Let The Sun Shine Through
by NYPDBosco
Summary: It's my first ever Bosco/Faith shipper story...and that's all the summary you're going to get :)
1. Chapter 1

OK, so this is my first attempt at Bosco/Faith shipper story! Let's see how it goes.remember I'm not promising it will be good :o) Chapter 1 will set up the story a little. Hope you enjoy.  
  
Oh yeah, and I don't own anything related to TW.  
  
Some 10-codes..10-34-Assault in progress 10-63---Meal  
  
For Dem and Angie who talked me into this! ******  
  
Let the Sun Shine Through  
  
Chapter 1 ******  
  
"Fred would you stop already?! I said I was sorry!" Faith was trying to stay calm.  
  
"Sorry doesn't cut it Faith! I'm tired of it! Tired of never seeing you. Tired of you having to work such long hours! You're never here for me and the kids!"  
  
"How was I supposed to know Fred?! How was I supposed to know Bosco and I would get stuck down at the station with that guy?! I can't see into the future!"  
  
Tonight staying calm wasn't easy. It had been a very long night. Faith and Bosco had been at the station until three in the morning after arresting a suspect in a murder case. Two hours into filling out all the required paperwork the guy had confessed which called for a whole new set of forms. They were forced to stay into the next shift.  
  
If that wasn't bad enough now Fred was pissed off because they had made plans to go to a midnight showing of a movie, and once again, due to Faith's job they had to cancel their plans. Faith was ready to smack Fred if he didn't drop this soon.  
  
"Do you have any idea how hard it was to get someone to baby-sit at midnight?! Then I had to turn around and cancel!"  
  
"Look I said I was sorry! What else do you want from me?!"  
  
"I want you to quit this job! That's what I want!"  
  
She shook her head not believing what she just heard. "I'm sorry, but it sounded like you said I should quit my job."  
  
"Yes. I want you to quit," he repeated very seriously.  
  
"Fred I can't quit. I'm a cop. It's my life. Being a cop is who I am." She couldn't believe how serious he was about this. Sure they'd argued about it before, but it was just something he said when he was scared that something would happen to her. Tonight though, it sounded different. She could tell that this time he really meant it.  
  
"No, a cop is not who you are! You're a wife and a mother! You belong here," he pointed down at the floor. "Your place is here Faith, in our home! Not out on the streets with Bosco! It's just a job, and it's taking you away from your family."  
  
Faith clenched her fists. She wanted so badly to hit him. How could he say this to her? Why was it that he was being so old fashioned and saying that her place was in the home? She was so mad she didn't know what to say so she just stood there glaring at him.  
  
Fred moved closer to her, reaching out to pull her close. Faith backed away from him. "No. Don't touch me," she said as she put her hands up and retreated backward.  
  
"I'm putting my foot down. It's time you quit this job and spend more time with us," he said softly. Once again Fred moved closer to her. He smiled. "Come on babe. You know I'm right about this."  
  
"No Fred. You're not even close to being right." Faith turned and headed for the bedroom.  
  
"Faith. Faith! Don't walk away from me!"  
  
"This conversation is over!" and with that she slammed the bedroom door.  
  
From where he stood Fred heard the sound of the door being locked. He walked over to the door. "OK. Why don't we talk about this later? When you've had a chance to sleep on it." He waited for her to answer, but he got no response. "Faith. Honey. Let me in."  
  
"No."  
  
"Damn it," Fred whispered as he headed for the couch. ***** There were still lights on in the bar when Bosco arrived. He tried the door, but it was locked. He put his hands up to the window to shield the light as he pressed his face against the glass. There was movement inside so he knocked on the door. Seconds later he was rewarded with the sound of the door unlocking.  
  
"Hey Ma," he leaned forward to give his mother a kiss on the cheek, but she turned and walked away from him. He shrugged.  
  
"You were supposed to be here hours ago Maurice."  
  
"I know. Got caught up at work. I got here as soon as I could. What's up?"  
  
"Your brother called me."  
  
Bosco nodded his head then looked down at the floor. He shifted his weight nervously before raising his head slightly. "So what'd he say?"  
  
"He said that you busted him again. I had to go post bail."  
  
"I had to ma. I caught him dealing."  
  
"Why do you always have to come down on him so hard Maurice?! Why? Mikey's a good boy."  
  
"Yeah, then why's he dealin' drugs?! Huh mom? Tell me that."  
  
"He just got in with the wrong crowd. Give him a break."  
  
"I'm a cop! It's my job!"  
  
"No! You're his brother!" Bosco shook his head. Why couldn't she see it? Why couldn't she admit that Michael wasn't who she thought he was? "You're family. You should be trying to help him."  
  
"I am."  
  
"By arresting him? You're not helping him. You're just costing me money."  
  
"What do you want me to do ma? It's illegal! He's gotta learn. I thought this might straighten him out."  
  
There was a pause as she finished wiping off the bar. When she was done she looked at her son. "I'm sorry we aren't as perfect as you Maurice."  
  
"What?! I'm not perfect ma! Never said I was."  
  
"Well, you walk around all high and mighty. The big policeman, but you know what?!" She leaned in close to him. "We're always going to be your family whether you like it or not!"  
  
With a huff Bosco pushed himself away from the bar. "I'm outta here!" He slammed the door as he left.  
  
***** Bosco sat in front of his locker. His mother's words from early that morning kept playing over and over in his head. He didn't even notice Faith come in, but that was all right because she was so deep in thought she didn't notice him sitting there.  
  
Faith changed slowly then sat down. She stared at the floor. Sergeant Christopher pushed the locker room door open. "ROLL CALL!" Bosco and Faith stood up and followed the other officers down the hall.  
  
They still didn't speak to each other as they took their regular seats. Bosco slouched in his chair. His elbow on the desk, and his hand propping his head up. "I'm sorry we aren't as perfect as you Maurice."  
  
Faith sat in her chair with her notebook sitting on the desktop. She leaned forward resting her forearms on the desk and held her pen in her hands. She stared at the pen as she twirled it between her fingers. "I want you to quit this job!"  
  
"We're always going to be your family whether you like it or not!"  
  
"Your place is here Faith, in our home!"  
  
Swersky's voice interrupted their thoughts. "Eyes and ears open out there. Have a good tour."  
  
Boscorelli and Yokas signed out their radios and headed for their squad car. They passed Sullivan and Davis without saying a word or even glancing in their direction.  
  
"What's with them?," asked Davis.  
  
Sully sighed. "Beats me." *****  
  
After driving for twenty minutes Bosco pulled into his favorite spot to lay low.underneath the bridge. He could tell something was really bugging Faith because she made no objection to him parking there. *****  
  
Faith continued to stare out the passenger's side window. She knew Bosco had something on his mind. He allows stopped under the bridge when he needed to think. *****  
  
For ten minutes they sat in complete silence. Occasionally Faith would glance over at Bosco, and once in awhile he'd steal a quick look at her. But now he was tired of the silence. He was tired of having nothing but his mother's words rattling around in his head. He looked at his partner. "Fred?"  
  
She turned toward him. "Yeah," she answered quietly.  
  
Bosco nodded. "What this time?"  
  
Faith took a deep breath. "He wants me to quit the force."  
  
"What?! Are you kidding?"  
  
"No. He thinks I should spend more time at home."  
  
"You aren't really considering it are you?"  
  
"No. Not really."  
  
"Good."  
  
"I've just been thinking."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"About---"  
  
"5-5 David we have a 10-34 at 103 and Oregon."  
  
Faith keyed her radio. "5-5 David 103 and Oregon." She flipped on the siren as Bosco started the car. *****  
  
"5-5 David requesting permission to go 10-63."  
  
"10-4 5-5 David."  
  
Bosco reattached his radio to his shirt and walked around the car to where Faith was leaning against the trunk of the squad. "All set. Where to?"  
  
"How 'bout we get something quick and head over to the ballpark on 92nd? I really don't feel like being around people, and that place is usually pretty dead."  
  
"Fine with me."  
  
After they got their food Bosco drove them over to the park. It was a nice day so they decided to eat at one of the picnic tables rather than sit in the car.  
  
They ate in silence.  
  
When Bosco finished he crumpled up his wrapper and threw it into the bag. Then he leaned forward resting his left arm on the table and laying his chin on his arm. With his right hand he absently traced a crack in the wood of the table.  
  
Faith looked at him with concern. "This about Mikey?"  
  
He tilted his head to look at her, but didn't respond.  
  
She read the look in his eyes. "You talked to your mom after work didn't you?"  
  
Bosco took a deep breath. He sat up a little with his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands. "Yeah. Mikey called her for bail money, and now she's pissed at *me* again."  
  
"You knew that was going to happen."  
  
"Yeah, but.I don't know. I guess I thought maybe it would help straighten him out ya know." Faith nodded. "Ma thinks I should cut him some slack because he's my brother." Bosco set his jaw and shook his head. "No way. I'm a cop. If he's dealin' it's my job to put him away. Family or not!"  
  
Silence filled the air. Bosco looked at Faith. "Right?" he asked with doubt. "I mean, I can't let him deal and risk the chance of ruining someone else's life. Can I?"  
  
"You did the right thing Bos," Faith said as soothingly as possible.  
  
"Yeah? Then why does my family hate me, and why do I feel like shit?" He grabbed the bag off the table and walked over to the garbage can. He headed for their RMP. "You ready?" *****  
  
"So, you wanna go for a drink or something?"  
  
"I don't know Bos. Fred was pretty pissed about last night. I should really go straight home."  
  
Bosco stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. OK." He turned to walk to his car. "See you tomorrow then."  
  
Faith watched as Bosco walked away. There was something about his body language. He was lacking his confident strut. Tonight he looked worn and defeated. "Bosco!" she called after him. He turned around; a look of hope on his face. "Why don't you come over to the apartment?"  
  
"I don't know if that's such a good idea Faith. I mean if Fred's already mad my showing up just adds more fuel to the fire."  
  
"No. It'll be OK. Really. Why don't you come over?" She really wanted Bosco to come to the apartment. Maybe she could get him to talk some more about what was bothering him. However, deep down Faith had a feeling Fred would make her regret this. *****  
  
Faith unlocked the apartment door, and Bosco followed her inside. Fred was sitting on the couch in front of the TV. "Hey babe," he greeted her with a big smile.  
  
"Hi," she replied as she shrugged off her coat.  
  
Fred saw Bosco for the first time as Faith moved toward the closet. Bosco saw the look on Fred's face. "Hey Fred."  
  
He looked from Bosco to Faith. "What's *he* doing here?!"  
  
"I invited him over."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because I wanted to talk to him. Is that a crime?"  
  
"What? You don't get to talk to him enough at work?"  
  
Bosco could see that if he didn't step in there was going to be a fight. As much as he wanted to stay and hang out with Faith he knew he needed to leave. "You know what? This was a bad idea. I should just go home."  
  
"You're right, it was a bad idea," spat Fred. "You should go home."  
  
"No. Bosco I invited you here, so stay."  
  
"Faith I should really go."  
  
"If he wants to go Faith let him go."  
  
"Fred would you shut up?! I asked Bosco to come over here because I thought *you* would be happy that I was home early. If I would have known you were going to behave like a child I would have gone somewhere else and come home later!"  
  
Both Fred and Bosco looked at Faith. Then Fred looked at Bosco. "Fine stay, but I'm going to bed." With that Fred stalked off to the bedroom.  
  
There was silence in the living room. "Well, you want some coffee or something?" asked Faith as she walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Uh, sure." Bosco looked back toward the closed bedroom door before making his way to the kitchen table. *****  
  
Faith placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of Bosco. He thanked her, and she smiled. She sat down across from him and took a drink of her coffee. "Bosco can I ask you something?"  
  
He looked at her and shrugged. "I guess."  
  
"What did your mom say to you that's bothering you so much?"  
  
"What?! Nothing. She didn't say anything," he was thrown off guard by her question. "Why do you think she said something?"  
  
"Because I *know* you Bosco; better than you think I do. I could see it in you all day today. She must have said something."  
  
"Well you're wrong," he said defensively.  
  
"Am I?" she asked as she took another sip of coffee, and looked at him over the cup.  
  
He hated that look. Every time something was bothering him and she gave him that look he knew it was over for him. Inside he smiled because he was truly grateful that she cared so much about him, but on the exterior he tried not to let it show. Bosco brought his coffee cup up to his lips.  
  
Faith watched him as she set down her cup. She saw the look in his eyes, and could tell the wheels were turning. A warm feeling came over her as she knew that he would confide in her. He made her feel special and important when he shared his thoughts and feelings with her, but she never let him know that.  
  
He put down his coffee, and took a deep breath. "I believe her exact words were 'I'm sorry we aren't as perfect as you', and 'we're always going to be your family whether you like it or not'." Bosco traced the rim of his coffee cup with his finger. "Oh, and there was something about me acting all high and mighty. 'The big policeman'."  
  
"Why would she say that?"  
  
"Maybe it's true."  
  
"What? Maybe what's true?"  
  
"Maybe I do act like I'm better than them. Maybe I do look down on them."  
  
"No you don't Bosco."  
  
"Then why would she say that? She wouldn't say it if it wasn't true. Is she didn't see it."  
  
"It's not true Bosco. I've seen you with your mom. I know how much you love her. And Mikey. I know you mean well."  
  
"Maybe I need to back off. Stay out of it. You know, let them live their own lives." He looked down at the table. "They can't hate me any more than they already do."  
  
"Bosco they don't hate you."  
  
"You don't know that."  
  
"Neither do you."  
  
"I don't know. It's just.I'm a cop. I can't bend the rules just because he's my brother, but I don't think I'm better than him or my mom." He looked at Faith with a faint grin. "We both know I'm just as screwed up as they are. Just in a different way, but they don't see that."  
  
"Not many people do Bos. You do a pretty good job of hiding it."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
She chuckled. "It's not a compliment."  
  
"To me it is. I don't want people to be able to read me like that."  
  
"I can."  
  
He looked down at his coffee. "Yeah, but.that's different."  
  
"How's that different?"  
  
"Well," he looked at her. "You're my partner.my."  
  
Faith could see the nervousness in his eyes as his voice trailed off. "You're my best friend too Bos." He smiled at her. Once again Faith had read him like a book. "So what are you going to do about your mom? You gonna try talking to her?"  
  
"I don't know. I'm thinking maybe I'll give her some time to cool off."  
  
"I'm sure she didn't mean what she said."  
  
He shrugged. "Who knows." Bosco pointed toward Faith's bedroom. "What's Frederick's problem these days?"  
  
Faith sighed. "I don't know. All of a sudden he's saying my place is here at home. He says I don't spend enough time with him and the kids, which is true. I don't get to spend enough time with them, but I can't change that right now. I don't have enough seniority." She shook her head. "Fred bitches about everything, but he never complains when he's out there spending my paycheck."  
  
"Yeah. Fred's an ass."  
  
"Bosco!"  
  
"Well it's true isn't it? I mean he obviously doesn't see what a good thing he's got."  
  
Faith looked at Bosco. The sincerity of his words shocked her.  
  
"Oh no," Bosco thought. "Did I say something wrong?"  
  
"Thanks Bosco."  
  
"No problem," he tried to shrug it off like it was no big thing. He hoped it worked. *****  
  
Faith came into the locker room rubbing her neck. "Yokas. You OK?" asked Bosco.  
  
"My neck hurts. I ended up sleeping on the couch."  
  
"Really? Why?" He walked over to her locker.  
  
"Fred was still being a jerk after you left. He locked me out of the room. I guess he was paying me back for locking him out the night before."  
  
"Yeah, well if he wasn't being such a dick you wouldn't have had to lock him out the other night."  
  
"Man," she continued to rub her sore neck.  
  
"Here, sit down." Bosco motioned toward the bench. Faith sat down, and Bosco stood behind her. He began massaging her shoulders and working his way to the base of her neck.  
  
Faith began to melt under his touch. "Wow Bos. You have the perfect touch. You ever thought of doing this for a living?"  
  
"Hell no! Just think of all the gross, nasty people I'd have to touch. Yuck!"  
  
She laughed. "Well it's good to know you don't consider me a gross, nasty person."  
  
He leaned down close to her ear. "Far from it Faith." She blushed, and he smiled inwardly. "How's that?"  
  
"Much better thanks."  
  
"Good. Now hurry up and get changed." *****  
  
"BOSCORELLI! YOKAS!" Sergeant Christopher beckoned them with a finger. "I NEED A WORD WITH YOU!"  
  
Faith looked at Bosco. He put his hands up. "I didn't do anything I swear."  
  
They walked to the front of the room. "Yeah Sarge."  
  
"Once again it's time to rid your sector of working girls. And guess who gets that lovely task?" Christopher said cheerfully.  
  
"Oh come on Jason. Not again. You know what happened last time."  
  
"Yes I do Boscorelli. Don't let it happen again," Christopher started to walk away, but turned back toward Bosco. "On second thought, if it happens again I can fire your sorry ass."  
  
Bosco took a step toward Jason, but Faith held him back. Christopher left the room laughing.  
  
"Dammit! Why's it always us?"  
  
"Um, I don't know. Maybe cause he doesn't like you."  
  
"What'd I ever do to him?"  
  
"I don't think it was anything you did to him. More of what you did *with* his fiancée`."  
  
"Oh yeah. That's right." Bosco grinned.  
  
"OK Don Juan let's go," laughed Faith. *****  
  
After a few hours of asking "street hostesses" to vacate the area Bosco and Faith went for their dinner break. They sat staring at their food. It was as if their internal clocks were synchronized as they both spoke at the same time.  
  
"I'm thinking about taking some time off." "I'm going to put in for some vacation."  
  
They looked at each other, and once again spoke at the same time. "What?" They chuckled. Bosco pointed at Faith. "You first."  
  
"I've decided to put in for some time off. Fred and I are having problems, and I just need a break from it all. My mom agreed to take the kids for a couple weeks so Fred doesn't have to worry about finding a sitter while he's at work."  
  
"Wait. You're not going on a vacation with Fred? I thought maybe you'd want to spend some time with him. You know, see if you could figure things out."  
  
Faith shook her head. "Fred's not who he used to be. I'm afraid we're growing apart. I want to see how it feels to be away from all the arguing for awhile." Bosco nodded, and picked at his salad with his fork. "So what were you going to say?"  
  
"Oh, I uh, I was thinking about taking some time off too. Getting away from the city."  
  
"Everything OK?"  
  
"I don't know. I guess. It's just I've never really gone on a vacation or anything, and I think it's time. I need to go somewhere and clear my head."  
  
"Are you sure you're all right?"  
  
"Yeah.I will be," he picked at his food a little more. "So where you plan on going?"  
  
"I don't know yet. How about you?"  
  
"I was thinking Florida."  
  
"Florida?"  
  
"Yeah. I've never been there. Figured I'd hang out at the beach. Go clubbin' in Orlando." She started laughing. "What?"  
  
"Sorry I just can't really picture you at a dance club."  
  
"Hey. I can dance." *****  
  
ONE WEEK LATER "Boscorelli. Yokas." Lieutenant Swersky handed them each an envelope. "Your vacation requests."  
  
"Thanks Lieu."  
  
"Thanks Boss." As soon as Swersky was out of sight Bosco tore into his envelope. "I better have gotten the dates I asked for. My trip is pretty much planned." He pulled out the letter. "YES! June 30th through July 13th. What'd you get?"  
  
Faith carefully opened her envelope, and read the letter. "Huh, that's interesting."  
  
"What is?"  
  
"They gave us the same days off."  
  
"Really? That's strange."  
  
"Guess they were worried they wouldn't be able to find someone who could tolerate you while I was gone. Must have figured it would save them a big headache if they just gave us the same time off," she headed for the locker room.  
  
"Hey! I resent that!" He followed her into the locker room. "Did you decide where you're going to go?"  
  
"No, not yet."  
  
Bosco started to unbutton his shirt. "Why don't you come with me to Florida?"  
  
"Yeah right Bosco."  
  
"I'm serious. Come with me. It'll be fun to have someone along."  
  
"Sounds kinda weird to me. Here we are taking time off of work to get away, and now we're talking about going on vacation together."  
  
"I'm taking vacation to get away from here, not you. And unless I'm mistaken you're taking time off to get away from Fred, not me."  
  
"I don't know Bos. I don't think it's a good idea."  
  
"Whatever you say, but the 'Bosco-mobile' pulls out at seven on Sunday morning if you change your mind." ***** SUNDAY MORNING 6:55 Bosco was just getting ready to close the trunk of his car. "Got room in there for my stuff?"  
  
He whirled around to find Faith smiling back at him. "Yeah," he took her bags. "I was hoping you'd show up." He smiled.  
  
"Yeah, well don't make me regret it," she smiled back. 


	2. Chapter 2

Let the Sun Shine Through Chapter 2 ***** Wow! This Bosco/Faith shipper stuff is fun! LOL!  
  
Now I just wish I owned something pertaining to Third Watch.then life would REALLY be good! ***** Faith climbed into the passenger's seat. Bosco put the key in the ignition then looked at Faith with a boyish grin on his face. She gave him a nervous smile. "What?"  
  
"I'm just glad you changed your mind." He started the car and looked back at his partner. "Why *did* you change your mind?"  
  
"Honestly? I don't really know. I guess I just didn't want to be alone on my vacation."  
  
"Double that. Being alone gets old fast. So, you ready to roll?"  
  
She nodded and smiled. "Sure am."  
  
Bosco pulled out into the street. Neither of them said anything for a while, but Bosco kept looking at her, smiling and then shaking his head.  
  
"Would you quit doing that?!"  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"Looking at me."  
  
"I'm not looking at you."  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
"No I'm not."  
  
"YES you are."  
  
"I'm just looking out the window. Is it a crime to look out the window?"  
  
"Just stop."  
  
"OK, fine." Bosco looked straight ahead. "Somebody's grumpy this morning."  
  
She quickly turned and glared at him. "I am not grumpy. I just don't like you looking over here all the time."  
  
"Oh, this is going to be a fun trip."  
  
Faith pointed at him. "Hey. I'll have you know---"  
  
Bosco broke out in a smile. "Oh would you relax?! Lighten up Yokas. Have some fun. You're so uptight."  
  
"I am not." He looked at her, and arched his eyebrows. "Ok. Ok. Maybe I'm a little uptight."  
  
"A little?"  
  
"Don't push it Bosco."  
  
He laughed, turned up the radio and continued down the interstate. They were on their way to Florida. Life was good. ***** Around one o'clock they stopped for lunch. When they got their orders the two friends slid into a booth. "So what did Fred say when you told him you were coming with me?"  
  
She just looked at Bosco. He could see the guilt written on her face.  
  
"You didn't tell him?!"  
  
"Why would I? He was mad enough as it was when I told him I needed a break. Figured it would only be worse if I told him I decided to go on vacation with you."  
  
"Good point. Where'd you tell him you were going?"  
  
"Oh I told him I was going to Florida. I just forgot to mention you." She ate a couple French fries. "Did you tell your mom where you were going?"  
  
"Yeah," he took a bite of his sandwich.  
  
"What did she say?"  
  
"'That's nice'. Then she hung up. She's still not talking to me."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"It's not your fault. Besides it's like this endless cycle with her. I'm used to it."  
  
"Well it still sucks."  
  
"No argument here."  
  
"So I never asked. What exactly are your plans in Florida?"  
  
"Let's see. The normal fun in the sun. A little R&R on the beach. A Major League Baseball game. That kinda stuff."  
  
"You have it pretty much all planned out then?" She asked as she looked down at her drink and played with the straw.  
  
"Yup. Why? You got something better in mind?"  
  
She spoke without looking up. "Well, I've always wanted to go to Disney World," she said quietly.  
  
Bosco laughed. "Disney World? You want to go to Disney World?!"  
  
"Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?!"  
  
"Well.no, but aren't you a little old for Mickey Mouse land?"  
  
"You're never too old Bosco."  
  
"Well I sure as hell ain't going."  
  
"You don't have to! I'll go by myself!" she stood up and took her try to the trashcan.  
  
"Faith. Faith! Come on, I was kidding!" Bosco hustled after her. "Faith. Come on, Faith!" He finally caught up to her at the car. "Faith?" She didn't turn around so he gently took her arm and turned her so she was facing him. He got a sick feeling in his stomach as he saw the sad look and the tears in her eyes. "Oh God Faith. I'm sorry." He said softly.  
  
"Not your fault."  
  
"Yeah it is, but honest, I was just joking."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Then what's going on?" He was confused. He knew that his words had triggered this, but he had no idea why. He was only joking.  
  
"It's nothing." She wiped at her eyes.  
  
"Faith it's me. Tell me what's wrong."  
  
"Really, it's no big deal."  
  
"No big deal? Faith you just ran out of the restaurant, and then I find you almost in tears. It's a big deal to me." He looked into her eyes. "Tell me."  
  
She took a deep breath. "I was just thinking about Disney World."  
  
"We can go if you want. I'll go. It's Ok with me," he said quickly.  
  
Faith smiled a little. "That's sweet Bos." She looked down at her feet. "I was just thinking about how I always wanted to take the kids there, but Fred always said no. And now we'll never get the chance to go as a family."  
  
"What? Why not?"  
  
"I filed for divorce."  
  
"Whoa! Whoa! What?! When?!"  
  
"A couple days ago. Maybe a week. I don't know. Fred should get the papers while I'm gone."  
  
Bosco stood there just looking at her. His mouth open. He knew that Fred and Faith had their share of problems, but he had no idea things had gotten this bad. "I-I don't know what to say," replied a shocked Bosco. "I'm sorry," he said softly.  
  
"Don't be sorry. I'm getting my life back. Though I don't really know what it's like to be free."  
  
"What do you mean free? Free from Fred?"  
  
"Yeah," she whispered.  
  
"Did he---did he ever----did he ever hurt you?"  
  
"Only with his words."  
  
"That's bad enough."  
  
"He loved me Bosco. He just didn't know *how* to love me." Faith smiled at the look on her partner's face. "You'll understand someday."  
  
"Do the kids know?" She nodded. "What can I do to help Faith? Anything, just name it."  
  
"Be my friend, and help me have some fun on this vacation."  
  
Without giving it a second thought Bosco pulled Faith into a hug. "Sure thing partner." He held onto her for another couple seconds then stepped away. Faith chuckled. "What?!"  
  
"You just hugged me."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So. I don't think you've ever hugged me before."  
  
"Well that's what friends do right? I mean, close friends hug each other once in awhile. Right?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then what? Did I do something wrong? I won't do it again if that's what you want."  
  
"No Bosco you're fine. It was just unexpected that's all."  
  
"Well don't go expecting it to happen again." He walked around the car. "Now get in! We're on a tight schedule!" 


	3. Chapter 3

Let The Sun Shine Through Chapter 3 **** Can't think of any notes right now.except I don't own any of these characters! BUMMER! ****  
  
"Bosco I don't think that was the right exit," said Faith as she looked up from reading the directions.  
  
"Sure it was. That's what the directions say," replied Bosco as he strained his neck to get another look at the directions she was holding.  
  
"I know that's what the directions say, but I think the directions are wrong," she was a little annoyed.  
  
"They can't be wrong. I got them off like mapquest.com or something," he snapped.  
  
Faith began looking around the car. "Where's the atlas?"  
  
"Uh, the atlas?" Bosco asked trying to look innocent, but sounding confused.  
  
She stopped and looked at him. "You know. The big book with maps of all the states. An atlas. You did bring an atlas?!"  
  
"No," he tried to cover it up with a cough.  
  
"You didn't bring a map?! How can you go on a trip like this without a map?!"  
  
"Look. I didn't think we'd need one seeing we had directions."  
  
"You're amazing you know that?!"  
  
"I've been told that once or twice," he grinned as he tried to lighten the mood.  
  
"AUGH! The next truck stop we see you better stop so we can get a map!"  
  
"Yes ma'am, but you've got to promise to relax. You're going to drive me crazy."  
  
"*I'm* going to drive *you* crazy?" She chuckled. "Step into my shoes. I'm on a trip from New York to Florida with a guy who doesn't bring a map."  
  
"Yeah, kinda makes me question your mental health," he smiled as he looked at her. All the frustration she was feeling was released when she saw his beautiful smile. Faith hated how he could do that. One minute she's furious with him, and then he flashes those pearly whites her direction and she just melts. She shook her head, and they both laughed. ***** "This place OK with you?" Bosco asked as he pulled into the parking lot of the Microtel Inn.  
  
She yawned. "I'm so tired I'd sleep almost anywhere."  
  
Bosco looked over at her. "You know I was thinking. It would really save us some money if we just shared a room and split the cost."  
  
"And they say you don't have common sense."  
  
"What?! Who says that?!"  
  
"I'm just kidding. It's a good idea. I'm all for saving some money."  
  
"OK, I'll be right back."  
  
"Good evening sir. How may I help you?" asked the young man behind the front desk.  
  
"I need a room for tonight. Two beds."  
  
"I'm sorry. The only room we have left is a single."  
  
"A single? You mean, like one bed?"  
  
"Uh yeah, that's usually what a single means."  
  
"Oh man. I guess I better try somewhere else," Bosco turned to leave.  
  
"You won't find another vacancy for miles. There's a huge Third Watch convention going on."  
  
"Third Watch? You serious?" The man nodded. "OK then, I guess I'll take it."  
  
Bosco headed back to the car. He nervously swung his keys around on his finger as he tried to figure out what he was going to tell Faith. Sure they were good friends.best friends, but he just found out she was getting divorced and now the only room left was a single. He was sure she was going to freak out.  
  
Faith had gotten out of the car and was leaning on the trunk as she took in the cool night air. "You get us a room?"  
  
"Uh.yeah. We got the last one." Bosco unlocked the trunk as Faith moved to the side.  
  
"What's the room number?"  
  
"110," he replied as he leaned into the trunk and pulled out their bags.  
  
"Can I have the key? I need to use the bathroom."  
  
"Oh, uh, I guess." Bosco fished around in his pockets.  
  
"Bosco would you hurry up!"  
  
"Yeah. Yeah. Hold on a sec." He pulled the key car out of his coat pocket, and held it out to her. As Faith reached for the key he pulled it away.  
  
"Bosco!"  
  
"Look I have to tell you something."  
  
"Well tell me on the way to the room," she snatched the key out of his hand and took off.  
  
"Oh boy," Bosco said under his breath as he slammed the trunk shut, picked up their bags, and hurried after her.  
  
Their room was right off the lobby so Faith was already unlocking the door when Bosco rounded the corner. She was in the bathroom by the time he walked into the room. He put the bags on the luggage rack, and went deeper into the room. He just stood there for a moment. "Oh man that's a small bed."  
  
"What'd you say?" asked Faith as she came out of the bathroom.  
  
He quickly spun around and walked toward her blocking her view of the room. "I uh, I was just saying how tired I am."  
  
"Yeah me too." She went to walk around him, but he moved in front of her. Faith tried again, but once again Bosco blocked her way. She smiled. "What? You wanna dance?" she chuckled.  
  
"Huh? No. No." Bosco shook his head nervously.  
  
"Bosco what's wrong with you? Why are you acting so strange?"  
  
He crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not acting strange."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Now would you please move?"  
  
"There's only one bed," he blurted out.  
  
"What?"  
  
"There's only one bed. I swear it was the only room they had." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'll sleep on the floor," he added quickly.  
  
"Bosco would you slow down? OK, so there's only one bed. What's the big deal?" She watched him as his gaze shifted from her to the floor. "Bosco?"  
  
He took a deep breath, and loudly blew it out. "I just.well, with finding out about your divorce and stuff I just didn't want you to think I did this on purpose."  
  
"I'm not following you."  
  
"I didn't want you to think that I was, uh, trying to take advantage of the situation. This really was the only room they had."  
  
"Why would I think something like that?"  
  
"Well I don't have the best reputation."  
  
"Oh Bosco," she smiled. "I know all about your reputation." He frowned. "But I also know what a sweet guy you can be when you want to." He looked up slightly and Faith kissed his forehead. "And don't worry so much. I trust you."  
  
Bosco blushed. He smiled back at her. "I'll sleep on the floor." He quickly walked past Faith and into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror. His face was red and it felt warm. He chuckled and shook his head. "Get a grip Bosco," he said to himself.  
  
When he came out of the bathroom Faith was changing into her pajamas. She had just taken her shirt off. "Oh sorry!" Bosco quickly turned around as Faith turned to look at him. "I didn't know you were changing."  
  
She pulled the shirt over her head. "Like you've never seen me change before."  
  
"That's different."  
  
"How?" she laughed.  
  
"Well that's work and this, this isn't," he stuttered.  
  
"Bosco what is with you?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Nothing?"  
  
"I don't know. I guess I just wasn't expecting this trip to be so weird."  
  
"Why's it weird?"  
  
"We sit in a squad car all day long at work. Today we sat in a car all day long. No big deal. But now here we are in a hotel room together. Just seems kinda awkward."  
  
"I guess it is a little strange, but it's just me and you, same as it is all day long in the car."  
  
"I know," he sighed.  
  
"If it will make you feel better we can get separate rooms the rest of the trip."  
  
"No, that's OK. I'll get used to it."  
  
Faith went and turned down the covers of the bed. Bosco grabbed the extra blanket out of the closet and a pillow off the bed. He put them on the floor under the window. "'Night Faith."  
  
He settled down onto the floor. Faith moved over to the edge of the bed and looked down at him. "Bosco that can't be comfortable. Come sleep up here."  
  
"Really Faith it's OK. I'm fine on the floor."  
  
"I'd sleep better if I knew you were comfortable."  
  
"I'm fine Faith."  
  
"Just humor me OK?" she pleaded.  
  
He looked up into her big blue eyes. That look always made him cave in. "Yeah OK, but I'll sleep on top of the covers."  
  
"Bosco," she laughed. "We aren't teenagers. I think we can handle it if you sleep under the covers. Besides, the air conditioner is on and you're going to get cold."  
  
"Gee, sure is hard to tell you have kids. You mother everybody like this?"  
  
"No, just you."  
  
He gave her a fake smile, and started to climb into bed. "You sure it's OK?"  
  
"I'm sure Bos."  
  
"'k. Goodnight Faith."  
  
"Goodnight Bosco."  
  
Bosco wasn't used to sharing a bed with someone, so he curled up on his side and stared at the wall. He was afraid to move.  
  
Faith was so used to curling up close to her husband that she had to concentrate on staying on her side of the bed. She lay on her side at the very edge of the bed.  
  
Finally they both drifted off to sleep. It was around two in the morning when Faith rolled over, and could feel the warmth of someone lying next to her. Instinctively she put her arm around him and snuggled close, resting her head on his pillow as she fell back asleep. Bosco stirred slightly as he felt a hand on his chest, but wasn't awake enough to comprehend it. He just relaxed against the warm body behind him.  
  
Faith was the first to wake up in the morning. She moved her hand and gently rubbed the chest of the man sleeping next to her. It took a few seconds for it to register that this was a tight muscular chest unlike Fred's. "Oh my God, Bosco," she thought as she slowly started to roll away from him. She hoped she didn't wake him.  
  
Her movement caused Bosco to open his eyes as the warmth that was next to him shifted away leaving a void. Bosco turned and looked over his shoulder to see her blushing. He smiled sweetly at her. "Morning," he said softly. 


	4. Chapter 4

Let the Sun Shine Through Part 4 ***** OK, so I'm warning you now.this isn't the best chapter I've ever written, but I still hope you like it! Keep in mind.I'm new at this shipper stuff! (and I'm still kinda setting it up!)  
  
***** "Hi," whispered Faith as she sat up in the bed, she brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Bosco rolled over so he was facing here. She hung her head. "I'm so sorry," she apologized without looking at him.  
  
"For what?" he asked. His voice was soft and gentle.  
  
"I didn't realize.I thought.I mean," she stumbled over her words. "I woke up and I was so close to you. I had my arm around y---"  
  
Bosco put up a hand to silence her. "It's OK Faith."  
  
"No it's not. I invaded your personal space. I'm really sorry."  
  
"Don't be sorry." He shook his head. "Actually, I haven't slept that well since.hell, I don't think I've ever slept that well." He smiled at her. "We should sleep like that more often." He laughed then turned red as he realized what he was saying.  
  
"So you aren't upset?"  
  
"Why would I be?"  
  
She shrugged. "Because it was me sleeping next to you and not some leggy blonde."  
  
He got out of bed. "Leggy blondes are overrated." He grabbed the sweats he had worn the day before and pulled them over his shorts. "I'm going to see what they have for breakfast. You comin'?"  
  
"I think I'm going to hop in the shower."  
  
"OK," he headed out the door.  
  
Faith leaned back against the headboard. "Oh wow," she said. "He sure is cute in the morning with his hair sticking up in every direction." She grinned. "I can't believe I just said that. This is Bosco." But she couldn't stop smiling.  
  
Bosco closed the door to their room, and leaned against it. "Whoa. I never thought having Faith so close to me could feel so good, so right," he thought. "But she's kinda on the rebound. I'm sure it didn't mean anything, but damn it felt good."  
  
Faith was already out of the shower and dressed by the time Bosco came back. "Took you long enough. Did you have to milk the cow yourself?"  
  
"No," he laughed. "But I had to find someone to make more coffee. It took forever." He handed her a cup. "They had bagels and doughnuts. Take your pick." Bosco set the plate down on the dresser.  
  
"How about half of each?"  
  
"Works for me." Bosco plopped down on the foot of the bed with the television remote, and turned it to SportsCenter. He looked at Faith. "You don't mind do you?"  
  
"No, I don't mind. I like SportsCenter."  
  
He laughed. "You what?! I didn't think you liked sports."  
  
"Oh, I like sports. It's just that my life doesn't revolve around them like yours does."  
  
"Hey! I got other things in my life besides sports," he defended himself.  
  
"Yeah? Name one." He opened his mouth to speak, but Faith stopped him. "One thing *other* than your job."  
  
"Uh, well, uh."  
  
"That's what I thought," she laughed.  
  
"Give me a chance to think."  
  
"You shouldn't have to think Bosco."  
  
He gave her his best hurt look, but all she did was laugh harder. Bosco stretched out on the bed as he ate his breakfast. He looked over at Faith as she continued to laugh at him. Their eyes met and they smiled. For the first time since this trip started a little over twenty-four hours ago Faith and Bosco were at ease, and there was no awkward tension. *****  
  
Bosco put the last of the bags in the trunk, closed it, and then leaned against the car as he waited for Faith. She appeared soon after. He called to her from across the parking lot. "Hey! I'm not stopping a hundred times for you to go to the bathroom today. So I suggest you go before we leave."  
  
Faith looked around to see if anyone else had heard his comment. "I'll have you know I just went *dad*." She approached him. "And correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't *you* the one who needed all the pit stops?"  
  
"I couldn't help it. That Mountain Dew went right through me."  
  
"Come on. Let's go," she headed for the passenger's side of the classic car.  
  
"Faith."  
  
She stopped. "Yeah."  
  
"You wanna drive?"  
  
"Come again."  
  
He held up the keys and nodded toward the car. "I asked if you wanted to drive."  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
He nodded.  
  
"But you don't let anybody drive your car."  
  
"Yeah well, you aren't just anybody. So, you want to?"  
  
"Sure," she hurried over and grabbed the keys from him before he had a chance to change his mind. Faith felt like a kid in a candy store. She had never told Bosco, but she had always loved his car.  
  
"Just be careful!" ***** Faith drove the whole day, and enjoyed every second of it. Even when Bosco was freaking out that she was driving too fast or getting too close to other cars. They spent the day talking and laughing. Learning things about each other that they had never known. Bosco learned that Faith loved to write, and she learned that he was an excellent singer as he belted out song after song that came over the radio.  
  
They pulled into their hotel in Melbourne, Florida, around eight o'clock that night. Bosco looked at his watch. "We made pretty good time."  
  
"Yeah we did," agreed Faith.  
  
"I'll go check us in."  
  
After Bosco got the room key they carried their bags inside. As soon as Faith was inside the door she dropped her bag on the floor. Her jaw joined it shortly after. She stood there wide-eyed as she took in the site. "Wow," she said as she walked further into the room. "I've never seen a hotel room this big." She turned back to see Bosco grinning at her.  
  
"Yeah." He nodded. "It is pretty big."  
  
They were standing in a large living room area that had a desk, couch, recliner and a huge television. Off to the left was a kitchen and to the right were the bedroom (with two beds) and the bathroom.  
  
Bosco walked toward the large window. "And you haven't seen the best part yet." He pulled the curtain back to reveal not a window, but a sliding glass door with a patio on the other side. He opened the door letting in the sound of crashing waves.  
  
"Oh my God. Is that the ocean?!"  
  
Bosco nodded. "We can walk right down to the beach."  
  
"Wait a second. Can we afford this place?"  
  
He grinned. "That's the best part. You remember my cousin Vinnie?" She nodded. "He knows the guy who owns the place. We got a great deal!" ***** "NO. STOP. DON'T HURT HER!" Bosco was fighting something or someone in his sleep. He thrashed around in his bed. His cries growing louder.  
  
Faith woke with a start and quickly looked toward the bed next to her. She flipped on the light and saw her partner frantically moving about. In one swift motion she threw back the covers, and was by his side.  
  
"NO! NO! STOP!"  
  
She grabbed his shoulder to hold him still. "Bosco. Bos." Gently she shook him, but it didn't work. "BOSCO WAKE UP!" She shook him harder. "BOSCO! It's a bad dream!"  
  
His eyes shot open, he sat up and frantically looked around.  
  
"Bos it's me. Faith."  
  
He looked at her with wide eyes. His body drenched in sweat. "What?! Why?!"  
  
"You had a nightmare."  
  
Bosco eased himself back down and took a deep breath. "Sorry I woke you." He turned his head to the side so he couldn't she her face. These nightmares had plagued him for years, but this was the first time someone had actually witnessed him having one. He knew that he always woke up from them sweating and exhausted, and he was always thankful there was never anyone around.  
  
"Are you OK?" Her voice was full of concern.  
  
"I'm fine," his reply was almost inaudible.  
  
"You want to talk about it?" He shook his head. She didn't want to push him. "Ok, well, goodnight." She climbed back into her own bed and reached up to shut off the light.  
  
"Faith," he said quickly.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Can we keep the light on?" has asked softly.  
  
"Sure Bos."  
  
A SHORT TIME LATER "NO! NO DON'T! PLEASE." Bosco's nightmare had continued almost as soon as he'd closed his eyes.  
  
Once again Faith shot out of bed and was by his side. This time he woke up sooner, and without the blank look in his eyes. He looked up at Faith and swallowed hard. "Another one?" he asked with a sigh.  
  
"'fraid so."  
  
"Damn. I guess last night was just a fluke."  
  
"You have a lot of nightmares?"  
  
"They're a nightly occurrence." He sat up. "Last night was the first time in ages that I slept through the whole night."  
  
"Really?" He nodded. "What are they about?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about it."  
  
She frowned. "Well," she put her hand on his knee and brushed a strand of hair off his forehead. "I'm here if you need me."  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Faith went to push herself off the bed, and noticed how wet it was. "Bosco. You're dripping with sweat. Why don't you change your clothes, and we can share the other bed."  
  
"No, that's all right."  
  
"Bosco," she said sternly.  
  
"OK. OK. You win."  
  
After he changed he climbed into bed with Faith and shut the light off. "You don't want the light on anymore?"  
  
"Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm safe here."  
  
Faith decided to make a bold move. She wasn't really sure why she did it, but she did. Slowly she inched toward him, and then put her arm around him. "Is this OK with you?" she asked softly.  
  
Bosco grinned. "Yeah," he covered her arm with his, and soon they were asleep. 


	5. Chapter 5

Let The Sun Shine Through Part 5 ******* OK, so I've decided to write one chapter for each day of their vacation. So some chapters might be short, but that's what I've decided! (  
  
I hope you are still enjoying my first attempt at a Bosco/Faith shipper story! Cause I'm having a great time writing it! Never thought I would enjoy B/F shipper stuff so much! LOL!  
  
Once again this goes out to Dem and Angie who talked me into this, and to all you other Bosco/Faith shippers out there!  
  
Oh yeah, I don't own the characters.don't sue cause I doubt I have anything you want! ******* JULY 2nd.Day 3.First full day in Florida Bosco woke around eight in the morning. He was lying on his back. Faith was next to him. Her head was on his pillow, and her right hand was on his chest. He reached up with his left hand and took her hand in his. Bosco just laid there enjoying being close to her and listening to her slow and steady breathing. He ran his thumb in circles over the back of her hand.  
  
Faith opened her eyes slowly, and noticed that Bosco was awake. She felt his hand on hers. "Hey," she whispered as she propped herself up on her elbow.  
  
"Morning," he smiled as he turned his head to look at her.  
  
"Did you sleep through the rest of the night?" she asked as she removed her hand from his, and placed it on the side of his head. She gently rubbed his forehead with her thumb.  
  
"Yeah. Thanks." They stayed like that for a short time until Bosco took her hand once again, and brought it back down to his chest. "Can I ask you something?" He questioned as he looked into her eyes.  
  
"Of course." Faith could feel his heart beating beneath her hand.  
  
He gulped, and looked up at the ceiling. "Is it just me, or does this feel right to you too?" Bosco looked at her with anxious eyes waiting for her response.  
  
She smiled. "It feels nice.it's comforting."  
  
"But is it just a friendship thing? I mean, what's going on? Does it mean anything?" he asked softly.  
  
"I don't Bos. I really don't." She sat up and looked at him. "I know that I feel safe with you and I'm comfortable being close to you, but I'm not sure what it means other than we are really close friends."  
  
He nodded and propped himself up on both elbows. "That's kinda how I felt too. I like having you next to me, but I guess I'm a little confused since we're partners and all. I was wondering if its just cause I know you so well that I'm comfortable with this, but I don't know."  
  
"I know what you mean. Let's just take it one day at a time OK? See where things go.or if they go anywhere."  
  
"Yeah, OK." ***** "Hurry up Bosco I wanna get down to the beach." Faith stood outside the bathroom door wearing a pair of short shorts and a snug fitting tank top.  
  
"Hold your horses I'm almost ready!" He called through the bathroom door. Seconds later he appeared wearing a pair of black Nike swimming trunks and his gray sleeveless NYPD shirt. "Happy now?"  
  
"Yeah," she laughed and pointed to his shirt. "What? You can't go three days without wearing a PD shirt?"  
  
He looked down at his shirt. "It was one of my only clean shirts when I packed. Why? What's wrong with it?"  
  
"Nothing, it's just that we're here on vacation and seeing that reminds me of work."  
  
"Get over it." He started searching around the room. "Where are my sunglasses?! Have you seen them?! I can't go outside without my sunglasses!"  
  
"Relax. I think I saw them on the desk." Faith walked over to the desk and held up a pair of sunglasses. "These them?"  
  
"Yup. Thanks." He put them on. "Good, now I won't get a headache from the sun."  
  
"You know what's giving me a headache?"  
  
"No. What?"  
  
"The glare off your scrawny white legs. Damn Bosco it's a good thing you have to wear pants to work otherwise I'd be blind."  
  
He glared at her. "Are you trying to hurt my feelings?"  
  
"No," she chuckled. "I'm just pointing out the facts."  
  
Bosco grabbed his towel and headed out the sliding glass door. "Just for that Yokas I'm going to spend the day acting like I don't know you."  
  
"You can try, but I don't think it's going to work." Faith followed him down to the beach. They spread their towels out on the sand and sat down. "Isn't this great?"  
  
"I'm sorry. Do I know you?" She elbowed him, and he laughed. "Yeah this is pretty nice. The sand. The sun. The ocean. It's paradise."  
  
Faith laid back. "Time to work on my tan."  
  
Bosco looked over at her taking in her appearance. He smiled as he too laid back to soak up some rays. Neither spoke for a while as they took in the sights and sounds of the beach. A few minutes later Bosco looked at her. "You really think my legs are scrawny?" he asked seriously.  
  
She looked at him with a grin. "No, but they are pretty white." Faith stood up. "I'm going to head down to the water. You coming?"  
  
He shook his head. "Maybe later." Bosco watched her as she walked away. He couldn't help smiling. She looked so good in those shorts and that tank top. "How come I never realized how beautiful she is until now?" he asked himself. "Must be the uniform and our line of work. I'm not supposed to see her as beautiful. When we're at work she's Yokas, my partner, there to kick ass, not look pretty." He reasoned.  
  
When Faith reached the water she turned to see Bosco staring at her. "Why's he staring at me?" she wondered. Then she saw the smile on his face so she smiled back at him. *****  
  
They had gone later in the day and found a grocery store so they could stock up the kitchen. Faith sat on the cushioned patio chair as she watched a shirtless Bosco preparing their dinner on the grill.  
  
She couldn't help but stare at him. Faith had seen him without a shirt on numerous times, and she knew that he worked out a lot. But she never realized just how muscular he was. "Gosh. His body is perfect," she thought as she sat there grinning. "I can't believe I never realized how defined his muscles are. Wait. Sure I can. He's my badass partner, and I am.was married. Of course I didn't notice. I never *looked* before."  
  
He turned to ask her a question, and noticed how she was looking at him. Bosco smiled. "Faith. Faith? Earth to Yokas!"  
  
She snapped out of her trance. "Huh?"  
  
Bosco chuckled. "I asked if you wanted cheese on your burger."  
  
"Oh, yeah," she blushed. He had caught her staring, but that was all right because she had caught him doing the same thing earlier. "Although he was staring from a distance," she thought. ******* It was 9:00PM. Bosco turned off the TV and walked into the bedroom where Faith was laying on the bed reading a book. "You wanna go for a walk?"  
  
She put her book down, and looked up at him standing in the doorway. "Sure."  
  
Together they walked down to the beach. The moon provided the perfect amount of light for them to see. "Which way do you want to go?"  
  
Bosco looked to the right. "Let's go this way. We never did check to see what was further down the beach." Faith agreed and they started walking down the beach side by side. Bosco glanced at Faith and reached for her hand. He watched her face to see her reaction.  
  
She looked down at their intertwined hands then looked up to meet Bosco's eyes. Faith smiled and they continued walking down the beach holding hands. Neither spoke, but it was a comfortable silence as they took in the scenery.  
  
After walking for close to half an hour they reached a pier. "Let's go out on the pier."  
  
"OK," Faith nodded, and they walked to the end of the wooden structure. When they couldn't walk any further they turned back to look where they had come from. Together they stood in the moonlight at the end of the pier and took in the ocean, the beach and the far off lights of the small town they were staying in. Faith looked over her shoulder at Bosco who was standing slightly behind her. "This is nice isn't it?"  
  
Bosco wrapped both his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind. He put his chin on her shoulder. "No," he whispered. "This is amazing." ***** When they went to bed that night there was no discussion. They climbed into the same bed, but tonight Bosco had his arms wrapped around Faith. 


	6. Chapter 6

Let The Sun Shine Through Part 6 ***** I don't know what the deal is.I've been a fan fiction-writing machine the last couple of days! Hope the stuff I've been churning out has been good!  
  
I still don't own anything related to Third Watch.bummer. ***** JULY 3rd.Florida.Day 2 Bosco woke and found himself alone in bed. He sat up quickly and looked around the room. Was it all just a dream? He could have sworn he had fallen asleep with Faith in his arms. Maybe he *had* been dreaming.  
  
Just then Faith walked into the room. She saw the almost panicked look in his eyes, and rushed to his side. Faith sat down next to him on the bed. She put her hand on his cheek. "Are you OK? Did you have another bad dream?"  
  
"No. Well at least I don't think so." She ran her hand through his messed up hair. "Did you.were we."  
  
Faith noticed the confused look on his face. "What Bosco?"  
  
"Did we sleep in the same bed last night?"  
  
"Yes. Why?"  
  
"I woke up and you weren't here. I thought maybe I dreamt the whole thing."  
  
"No, it wasn't a dream. I feel asleep with your arms around me, but I woke up and you looked so peaceful. I didn't want to disturb you."  
  
He breathed a sigh of relief. "OK good. I was hoping it was real."  
  
She smiled and took his hand. "Come on Sleepy. Breakfast is ready."  
  
"What? I don't get breakfast in bed?"  
  
"Keep dreaming," she laughed as she pulled him out of bed.  
  
When he was standing he kissed her on the cheek. "Good morning Faith." ***** "So what's the plan for today?" Faith asked as they sat at the kitchen table eating breakfast.  
  
"Well I was planning on heading over to Tampa for the Devil Rays game, but we don't have to go if you don't want to."  
  
"Sounds like fun. Who are they playing?"  
  
"The Rangers I think. Game starts at one, and it's about a two hour drive."  
  
"It's nine now, so we should finish up and get ready." ***** Bosco came out of the bedroom wearing tan cargo shorts and a black t-shirt. He had a baseball cap in his hand and was just getting ready to put it on when Faith took his arm and stopped him. "What?" he asked.  
  
"Don't wear a hat."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well," she smiled, "because your hair.you just look so cute."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Cute?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.  
  
"Yes. Cute."  
  
He held up his index finger. "OK, I won't wear a hat, but on one condition."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"You have to wear your hair down."  
  
"And why is that?"  
  
He put his hands on her hips. "Because if I have to walk around looking cute all day I want all the attention to be on the gorgeous woman on my arm."  
  
"Are you saying I'm not gorgeous when my hair is up?" She asked as she put her hands on his chest and started to push him away.  
  
Bosco held on to her tighter not letting her move away. "No. You're absolutely beautiful with your hair up." He smiled.  
  
"Oh really? So what's the difference between gorgeous and beautiful?"  
  
He looked into her eyes. "Not much," he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You ready to go?" ***** The drive to Tampa flew by as the two of them talked and enjoyed each other's company. They pulled into the parking lot at Tropicana Field a little over an hour before game time. Hand in hand they walked to the stadium's ticket window. "Where do you want to sit Faith?"  
  
"Doesn't matter to me."  
  
Bosco turned to the woman in the window. "Two of the best seats you have." After he paid for their tickets they headed inside the dome. "You want to get something to eat before we find our seats?"  
  
They came away from the concession stand with two Cokes, two hot dogs and a bag of peanuts. "Geez. This stuff is so expensive. This is why Fred and I were never able to take the kids to a ball game. Can you imagine having to buy food for four of us?!"  
  
"Yeah that'd be pretty spendy." Bosco led Faith down to their seats. They were about fifteen rows up on the first base side behind the home team dugout.  
  
"These seats are great."  
  
"Yeah they are," smiled Bosco. "I love baseball games." They ate their lunch in silence until Bosco broke out in a huge grin and started to laugh softly.  
  
"What's so funny?"  
  
"I was just thinking about the last time I went to a professional ball game."  
  
"And when was that?"  
  
"Couple years back. I took Nicole to that Knicks game."  
  
"Oh yeah," she smiled. "I remember you complaining about it the next day cause you were all pissed off that Ewing didn't play."  
  
"That's not the only thing that bothered me."  
  
"What else was there?"  
  
"Nicole. She was chewing on my neck and grabbing at my crotch the whole time."  
  
"Now I remember. I was shocked that it bothered you so much," she chuckled.  
  
"Hey. There's a time and a place for that kinda stuff and a Knicks game is definitely *not* the place."  
  
"Well don't worry. I don't plan on doing any chewing on you and I'll try to keep the grabbing to a minimum." She grinned.  
  
"Phew! That's a relief," he smiled back at her.  
  
Fifteen minutes before the first pitch Bosco hopped out of his seat. "I'll be right back I forgot to get a game program. You want anything?"  
  
She shook her head. "Don't get lost."  
  
He stopped at looked at her. "Faith look at this place," he put his hands up. "It's a dome. A big circle. How am I going to get lost? Besides I have this handy dandy little ticket that tells me where I'm supposed to sit."  
  
"Bosco you have a special knack for doing things like that."  
  
"Whatever." He returned a few minutes later with a program in hand. "Have they announced the starting lineups yet?"  
  
"Not that I know of."  
  
"Good." He opened the program to the scorecard inside and waited for the public address announcer to name the starters.  
  
Throughout the first inning Faith sat watching Bosco as he kept score in his program. She had never seen him write that legibly before. "Gee Bosco. I'm willing to bet that everyone at the station would like you more if you wrote your reports that neatly," she joked. He just grinned. "So who taught you how to keep score? Your dad?"  
  
"Nope. When I was eleven my Little League coach taught me. My dad never had time for that stuff." He looked at her. "Anyone ever teach you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You wanna learn?"  
  
She shrugged. "OK."  
  
Bosco handed her the book. "OK. First you have to know the numbers that correspond to each position." He carefully explained to her about how the positions were numbered and then showed her the layout of the score sheet. "You think you're ready?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
He handed her the pencil as the first batter of the second inning came to the plate. The batter worked the pitcher to a count of three balls and two strikes. Bosco watched as Faith filled in the appropriate spaces after each pitch. Then the batter hit a long fly ball to right field.  
  
She looked at Bosco. "OK. So it was a fly ball, so that's an F." She wrote it in the middle of the box. "And it was hit to right which is position nine. So it's an F9 right?"  
  
"Right. Now make sure you put a number one with a circle around it so you know it was the first out."  
  
For the next two innings Bosco sat with his arm on the back of Faith's seat as he taught her how to score a baseball game. He never knew how much fun something like that could be.  
  
Faith couldn't believe how patient Bosco was being with her. She had messed up a couple times while trying to mark the score, but Bosco never got annoyed and he never raised his voice. He simply explained what she had done wrong and showed her how to fix it. If Fred would have been teaching her he would have been furious and given up.  
  
She handed Bosco the scorebook. "I have to use the restroom."  
  
"You going to be OK going by yourself? You want me to walk up there with you?"  
  
Faith put her hand on his knee. "Bosco. I'm a New York City Police Officer. I think I can take care of myself."  
  
He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah. I s'ppose you're right." Half an hour passed before she came back. "Where have you been? I was getting worried."  
  
"Relax Bosco. It's a sporting event. There's always a long line in the women's bathroom." She sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her, and that's how they sat watching the game. They didn't talk much except to occasionally comment on a play.  
  
It was the middle of the eighth inning when Faith sat up and started rummaging through her purse. Bosco watched her. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing. I'm just looking for my camera." She pulled a small disposable camera out of her purse, and gently tapped the shoulder of a woman sitting in front of them. "Excuse me, but would you mind taking a picture of us?"  
  
"Sure thing dear," the older woman replied as she took the camera from Faith. Bosco once again put his arm around Faith and leaned in close to her for the picture. As the woman handed the camera back to Faith she smiled. "You two sure are a lovely looking couple."  
  
Faith started to tell the woman that they were just friends when Bosco interrupted. "Thank you ma'am." ***** It was the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Devil Rays needed two runs to win the game. There was a runner on first, but the batter had a 3-2 count and there were two outs. Many people had already left and more were heading for the door, but Faith and Bosco stayed put.  
  
The batter swung at the next pitch and hit a foul ball to the first base side. Instinctively Bosco stood up and snared the ball out of the air with his bare hands. The crowd that remained cheered Bosco's catch and he gave a small wave as he sat back down.  
  
"Nice catch Bos," smiled Faith.  
  
He turned and handed the ball to her. "This is for you. I've never had such a good time at a ballgame. Thanks."  
  
"You're welcome." They were looking into each other's eyes. Bosco leaned forward to kiss her lips. Sensing what he was about to do Faith leaned slightly forward to greet him, but before their lips met, the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd caused them to snap back into reality. They turned their heads in time to see the ball sailing toward the centerfield wall. It was a homerun. The Devil Rays had come from behind to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. Faith and Bosco stood with the other fans and applauded. 


	7. Chapter 7

Let The Sun Shine Through Part 7 ******* This story is soooooo much fun to write! I love it! Too bad I still don't own anything! ******  
  
JULY 4th.Florida.Day 3 Faith opened her eyes to find Bosco still asleep next to her. He was lying on his stomach and was facing away from her. She rubbed his back as she lay there thinking about the events of the last couple days. A warm feeling came over her as she thought about their moonlit walk along the beach, their moment together on the pier, and then there was the near kiss at the game yesterday. She continued to move her hand along his back. He stirred slightly. A smile crept across her face.  
  
Bosco slowly lifted his head and looked down at his pillow as he tried to wake himself fully. He felt Faith's hand on his back and he turned to look at her, laying his head back down.  
  
"Good morning," she smiled as she began running her fingers through his hair.  
  
He smiled at her sleepily. "Hi," he whispered. Bosco closed his eyes and relaxed under her touch. Faith thought he had fallen asleep. He spoke without opening his eyes. "Faith."  
  
"Yeah Bosco."  
  
He looked at her. "I really like waking up with you next to me," he said softly.  
  
"Yeah?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah." He reached over and ran the back of his fingers along her cheek. "Yeah I do," he smiled. ******  
  
"I'm going for a run," Bosco announced as he came up behind the chair Faith was sitting in on the patio. "No wild parties while I'm gone."  
  
"Oh, OK, but you're ruining all my fun." She watched him as he jogged down the beach. Faith still couldn't get over how attracted to him she was lately. She just shook her head and grinned.  
  
About forty minutes later he returned from his run to find Faith standing in the kitchen. Her back was to him so he snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She jumped slightly as he startled her. "Did ya miss me?" He asked as he pressed his cheek against hers.  
  
She twisted out of his grasp. "Bosco! Gross. You're all sweaty." He just laughed as he headed into the bathroom to take a shower. *****  
  
Faith was just hanging up the phone as Bosco came out of the bathroom towel drying his hair. He pointed at the phone. "Who was that?"  
  
"Oh, I just called to talk to the kids."  
  
"Yeah? How they doin'?"  
  
"They're good. My mom's taking them to a parade today then they're going to watch the fireworks tonight."  
  
"I guess the fireworks in the City are going to be really good tonight."  
  
"Yeah. They are going to be broadcast on TV so my mom is going to tape them so we can watch them when we get back. I kind of wish we were there for today."  
  
"I don't."  
  
"Why not? It's a great way to celebrate and remember. Just imagine all the people who are going to be carrying flags and wearing red, white and blue. Everyone is really showing their pride and support for our country."  
  
"Yeah. Well I still wanna know where all those people were before?!" She could hear a hint of anger in his voice. "Where was their pride and support for our country before 9/11?! People are out there *everyday* protecting their freedom and keeping them safe, but no one acknowledges what they do until something terrible has happened."  
  
"At least people are showing their support now."  
  
"Yeah, but for how long," he questioned as he sat down in the chair.  
  
Faith watched him closely as he sat fidgeting in the chair. "Bosco are you OK?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah I'm fine."  
  
"I mean it. Is everything OK with you? Life hasn't been real kind to you lately."  
  
"Life hasn't been kind to a lot of people lately."  
  
"Yeah, but you seem to have taken the brunt of it."  
  
He sighed. "That's why I took vacation. It was starting to consume me. I guess I just started to realize what was happening, and I had to get away." He shook his head and smiled.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's just that it took a vacation to Florida to show me what I have in New York that is so special."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"You. I can't remember the last time I was this happy Faith."  
  
"Me either Bos." ***** "The hotel manager said there's a parade starting at one. I'm going to go check it out."  
  
"Wait up. I'll go with you."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Where ever you go I go." He paused, "Within reason."  
  
Faith and Bosco stood and saluted as the American flag led the procession. When the flag had passed they sat back down on the street curb and watched the parade roll by. Faith sat close to him with her arm resting on his thigh. Bosco had his arm around her; his thumb through one of the belt loops on her shorts. ***** At 9:30 they went down to the beach to find a spot to watch the fireworks. The festivities were set to begin at ten. They sat next to each other in the sand gazing up at the stars. Faith looked over at him. "Bos."  
  
He turned to face her. "Yeah Faith."  
  
Without another word she leaned over and planted a kiss on his lips. She pulled away slightly to see his reaction. He just looked at her. Once more she leaned in; this time kissing him with more passion.  
  
Bosco broke the contact this time. She could see the questions in his eyes. "Faith, are you sure about this?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"It's me remember? Your hotheaded bigoted partner."  
  
"I haven't seen that guy since we left New York." She leaned in to kiss him again, but he backed away. He looked nervous. "Bosco?"  
  
He looked down. "Faith I don't.I don't want to get hurt when you decide later that kissing me was a big mistake."  
  
"I'm not going to hurt you Bos. I promise." She put her hand on the back of his head and pulled him into another kiss. He wrapped his arms around her as their kisses grew deeper. Fireworks exploding overhead. 


	8. Chapter 8

Let The Sun Shine Through Part 8 ***** Still don't own Third Watch. Thanks for all the great reviews! Talk about motivation! ***** JULY 5th.Florida.Day 4 He lay on his side watching her sleep. She looked so sweet, so gentle. Bosco couldn't believe this was the same woman who was his partner with the NYPD. He always knew there was more to her than what he saw at work, but she had been married since the day they met, so he had never let his mind drift to thinking of her as anything other than a cop. But now, things were different.  
  
Bosco carefully moved a strand of her strawberry blond hair and tucked it behind her ear. He put his hand on her waist. He needed some kind of contact to make sure this was still real. He just had this feeling that it was all in his mind, but touching her as she lay next to him reassured him.  
  
Last night they had kissed. He had never felt that way before from kissing someone, but last night there was this indescribable energy.  
  
Faith woke and found herself looking directly into Bosco's eyes. His eyes were smiling at her with a twinkle she had never seen before. "Hey. What's with you this morning?" she asked with a smile.  
  
"We kissed last night." A grin made its way across his face.  
  
She chuckled. "Bosco, we didn't just kiss. We made out like a couple of teenagers."  
  
He rolled onto his back. "You sure know how to ruin the moment."  
  
"Oh come on Bosco. I was just kidding." She put a hand on each side of him and lifted herself above him. She gazed down at him. "Snap out of it Bosco. It was a joke." Bosco reached up and tucked another strand of hair behind her ear. He loved how soft her hair was. "So, how long were you watching me sleep?"  
  
He shrugged. "I don't know.a while."  
  
"And what were you thinking about?"  
  
"How great it felt to kiss you."  
  
"It *was* pretty nice wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah." She leaned down to kiss him, but he stopped her by putting a finger to her lips. "So you don't regret it?"  
  
Faith took his hand and kissed it. Then she lowered herself down and placed a kiss on his lips. She broke the connection and looked deep into his eyes. "Does that answer your question?"  
  
"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?" When they pulled apart Bosco was grinning.  
  
"I take it you understood that time."  
  
"Roger that."  
  
"We don't have any plans for today do we?"  
  
"Nope. You got something you want to do?"  
  
"Yeah. How about we just lay in bed and watch TV?" She rubbed his chest and lowered her hand to his stomach. "I just want to be close to you."  
  
"Mmmm k," he replied as he initiated the next meeting of their lips.  
  
Bosco sat up, leaning against the headboard. Faith laid in the bed, her head in his lap and her hand resting on his knee. He put his hand on her hip, and that's how they stayed for the majority of the morning as they watched TV and relished being so close to each other. ***** It was afternoon by the time Faith and Bosco ventured into the kitchen to find something to eat. "After we eat do you want to go done to the beach?" Bosco asked as he grabbed the ice tea out of the fridge.  
  
"That sounds like a good idea."  
  
A short time later they were sitting on the beach once again taking in the sights and sounds of Florida. "I love this place," chirped Bosco. "When I retire I'm gonna move down here and buy a condo on the beach."  
  
"It's so relaxing. So quiet. A lot different from home."  
  
"Yeah, I'm really---" Bosco was interrupted by the sound of someone screaming. He looked around. "What was that?!"  
  
"Sounded like a woman screaming." They both searched the beach with their eyes as the shouts continued. "Look," Faith pointed, "over there."  
  
Not too far away was a woman sitting on the beach. She was topless and trying to cover herself, but a man was holding her arms and trying to kiss her. She was screaming for him to stop. Without another second passing Bosco and Faith were running toward them.  
  
"Hey! Leave her alone!" yelled Bosco as he approached. The man looked up and loosened his grip on the woman. She was able to break free from him. Faith grabbed the blanket off the ground and covered the half naked woman.  
  
The man glared at Bosco. "Tis none your bu'iness," he slurred as he staggered to a standing position.  
  
"Great, he's drunk. I hate drunks," Bosco said under his breath.  
  
Faith was consoling the hysterical woman. "Do you know this guy?"  
  
She nodded. "He's my boyfriend. He got drunk and took off my top. I couldn't get him to stop. I didn't want to.you know, not here. Not when he's drunk."  
  
Bosco looked from the woman to her boyfriend. "Hey buddy. No means no whether she's your girlfriend or not."  
  
"Stay out it. No your bu'iness," he slurred angrily.  
  
"Yeah? Well I'm a cop and you trying to force yourself on her and her screaming made it my business." Bosco took his eyes off the man. "Are you OK?" he asked the woman, not noticing what the man was doing.  
  
"BOSCO LOOK OUT!" screamed Faith.  
  
He turned his head and was met with a glass bottle. "Son of a bitch!" Bosco brought his hand to his head then collapsed to the ground.  
  
When Bosco had turned his head the man picked up the 40 of beer that he had been drinking. He swung the bottle at Bosco and connected solidly. Then the man took off.  
  
Faith ran to Bosco's side. She frantically pulled Bosco's hand away from his face. He had cuts stretching from the middle of his forehead diagonally to the middle of his cheek. There was so much blood she couldn't tell, but she thought there were cuts around his eye as well. Faith looked at the woman. "Call 9-1-1!"  
  
Bosco was dazed for a moment, but then the pain hit him hard. He started thrashing around. Faith put a hand on his head and one on his chest. "Whoa Bosco. Stay still."  
  
"It hurts," he hissed through clenched teeth.  
  
"I know. I know. Someone's calling an ambulance."  
  
"Faith my eye," he tried to touch his injured left eye, but Faith quickly grabbed his hand.  
  
"Leave it alone."  
  
He tried to open it. "It hurts. I can't see. Everything's red," he panicked and started thrashing his head from side to side.  
  
"Bosco listen to me!" She grabbed his face in her hands. "Hold still OK?! You're only making it worse. Keep your eyes closed. Everything is red because of the blood, but you're going to be OK."  
  
"B-b-blood?"  
  
She leaned close to him. "It's OK. You're OK." She tried to calm him. "Do you remember what happened?"  
  
"N-no."  
  
"Well, the guy you were talking to decided to slam a beer bottle against your head." Faith told him as she smoothed his hair.  
  
"Ouch," he said with a small chuckle as he was finally calming down.  
  
Faith laid a comforting hand on his chest. "You're going to be all right."  
  
"Excuse me," said the paramedic as he knelt down next to Faith.  
  
She moved out of the way. "Bosco the paramedics are here. I need to move out of the way so they can take care of you." Bosco nodded.  
  
"What happened here?"  
  
"He got hit with a beer bottle," Faith answered.  
  
The paramedic took out his penlight and looked into Bosco's right eye. "Can you tell me your name?"  
  
"Maurice Boscorelli."  
  
"Do you know where you are?"  
  
"Florida.on the beach I think."  
  
"Good. Good. Can you see anything out of this eye?"  
  
Bosco shook his head. "All I see is red."  
  
"OK, well there's some blood from the cut on your forehead dripping into it, so do me a favor and try to keep it closed OK?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"How about your left eye?"  
  
"It hurts. I can't open it," Bosco replied. The panic starting to rise in his voice.  
  
"OK. Don't worry about it. Looks like you might have some glass in your eye, so we're going to put some gauze pads over it." The paramedics made quick work of covering Bosco's left eye and bandaging the cuts on his face. Bosco hissed from the pain a few times, but stayed relatively still considering what was going on. "We're going to put you on the stretcher and take you to the hospital." The medic informed him.  
  
Bosco opened his right eye and lifted his head. "Faith?!" He looked for her, but still couldn't see.  
  
The second paramedic quickly and gently pushed him back down. "Easy pal. Keep that eye closed."  
  
Bosco swallowed hard. "Faith?" he called again.  
  
"I'm here Bosco." He lifted his hand into the air, and she moved forward and took it in hers.  
  
Faith climbed into the back of the bus with the stretcher. She never let go of his hand. "How you doing?" she asked as she rubbed his chest gently.  
  
"Gawd it hurts," he moaned.  
  
"I'm sorry." She kissed his hand. "Maybe going to the beach wasn't such a good idea."  
  
He moaned again. "I don't feel so hot."  
  
At hearing this, the medic came back to Bosco's side. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I think I'm going to throw up." The medic helped Bosco roll onto his side, and as if on cue Bosco emptied the contents of his stomach. He rolled back onto the stretcher, and passed out from the dizziness.  
  
"Bosco?" Faith asked with concern.  
  
"Don't worry. It's from the concussion. He'll be all right," the paramedic reassured her. ***** When they got to the emergency room they wheeled a still unconscious Bosco into a trauma room. Faith was left standing outside the glassed in room. "Please let him be OK. Please let him be OK," she kept repeating to herself as she watched the doctors and nurses tend to him. She noticed he had regained consciousness shortly after arriving.  
  
Bosco felt people touching him, but he couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't see who was touching him. "Faith?" He tried to fight the hands. "Faith?!" He kept trying to sit up.  
  
A nurse came out of the room. "Are you Faith?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"He's calling for you, and we can't settle him down. You think you could help?"  
  
Faith nodded and followed the nurse into the room. Everyone turned to look at her as she approached Bosco. She took his hand and he flinched. She whispered in his ear. "Shhhh. Hey partner. It's Faith." She felt him relax. "I hear you're giving these nice people a hard time."  
  
"What's happening?" he asked.  
  
"They just need to stitch up your cuts and clean out your eyes. OK? Can you let them do that?"  
  
He squeezed her hand. "Don't leave me."  
  
"Wouldn't dream of it," she kissed his uninjured cheek. "But I need to move out of the way."  
  
Bosco nodded, and Faith let go of his hand as she moved out of the way. The doctor stepped up to Bosco and carefully removed the bandage that was covering his left eye. "All right Maurice. You have a small piece of glass in your eye that I need to remove. This is going to hurt some, but I'm going to numb your eye with some drops. You ready to get started?"  
  
He tensed up. "Faith?" he asked nervously.  
  
She patted his leg. "I'm right here Bos. It's OK." She kept her hand on his leg so he would know she was there.  
  
He nodded and took a deep breath. "Let's get this over with." ***** A few hours later Bosco woke up in a hospital bed. The first thing he noticed was that he could see out of his right eye. Which was a great relief. He reached up and felt a heavy bandage covering his left eye. There were also bandages on his cheek and forehead.  
  
Faith came into the room. "Hey look who's awake," she grinned. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she ran her fingers through his hair.  
  
"Everything's kinda fuzzy."  
  
"Well you have a pretty nasty concussion. Which, by the way, means you have to stay here tonight."  
  
"What about my eye?"  
  
"You were lucky. The doctor said the glass only scratched the cornea, so they're going to give you some medication and you'll have to wear an eye patch for a few days, but you'll be fine."  
  
He let out the breath he was holding. "Good." Bosco reached for her other hand. "Thanks Faith."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For helping me through that. I was pretty freaked."  
  
She smiled at him then kissed him gently. He lifted his head off the pillow as they continued. "Mmm. Whoa.whoa. Hold on," he said as he lay back down. Faith noticed how exhausted he looked and was immediately concerned. "As much as I was enjoying that," he smiled. "I'm still nauseous, and my head is killing me."  
  
Faith rubbed her hand across his chest. "How 'bout we finish this when you're feeling better?"  
  
"I'd like that."  
  
  
  
******* You had to know I was going to work some kind of angst into this!! LOL! 


	9. Chapter 9

Let The Sun Shine Through Part 9 ***** Sorry, this chapter is a little shorter! But I still hope you enjoy it! ***** JULY 6th.FLORIDA.DAY 5 Faith didn't sleep much the night before. Every couple of hours a nurse would come into the room to wake Bosco and ask him his name and if he knew where he was. Each time Faith would wake up and stand by his side. She would hold his hand and kiss his cheek to remind him that she was still there and she wasn't leaving.  
  
A few times he woke on his own after having a bad dream. He would call her name out into the dark room, and she would be by his side in a flash. The concussion was playing games with his head and on top of that he was having trouble remembering things, but all it took was a few comforting words from Faith to ease his mind.  
  
It was eleven in the morning when he woke up to find Faith sitting by his side holding his hand. He looked around the room nervously as he tried to get his right eye to focus. His face was swollen and bruised underneath and around the bandages. Bosco finally settled his eye on Faith. "Hi," came his tired voice.  
  
"Hey Bos," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"Head hurts."  
  
"How's your stomach? Do you still feel nauseous?"  
  
"Yeah," he said quietly. There was a look of confusion on his face.  
  
"What' wrong Bosco?"  
  
"Why can't I remember what happened? I remember being brought here yesterday and stuff, but I don't remember why I'm here."  
  
"A drunk guy clocked you with a beer bottle."  
  
"Oh. Have I asked you that before?" She nodded. "Sorry."  
  
"It's OK."  
  
He licked his lips. "This is like having the worst hangover ever."  
  
"I bet. That guy smoked you," she chuckled. Bosco grinned and closed his eye as he rested.  
  
Just then a nurse came into the room with Bosco's doctor following closely behind. He heard people approaching and looked at them. Before either of them could speak Bosco opened his mouth, "Maurice Boscorelli and I'm in a hospital in Florida."  
  
The nurse smiled at him. "Somebody knows the drill."  
  
"I'm a quick study," he said with a half smile.  
  
The doctor approached him. "So how are you feeling today Maurice?"  
  
"My head hurts. My face is throbbing, and I'm really nauseous."  
  
"Well that will all go away in time. Right now I want to take a look at your eye. Then we are going to give you some antibiotics to prevent infection, but since you're still nauseous we'll administer those through an IV."  
  
"OK."  
  
"Your eyes are going to be very sensitive to light for awhile, so I'm going to shut off the overhead light and turn on a smaller one." The doctor reached down to take the bandage off of Bosco's eye. As soon as Bosco felt contact he flinched because he couldn't see what the doctor was doing. "I'm just going to take off the bandage now. You ready?"  
  
Bosco squeezed Faith's hand. "Yeah."  
  
After he finished removing the bandage he stopped to explain what he was doing next. "Now Maurice, this is going to hurt because there is a lot of bruising around the eye, and it's swollen shut, but I need to put some eye drops in your eye. Ready?"  
  
"I guess."  
  
The doctor made quick work of opening Bosco's eye and putting in the drops. There was a sharp intake of breath from Bosco as the pain hit his eye. Bosco squirmed slightly and squeezed Faith's hand tightly. "OK. All done. You did very well Maurice. You have a fairly large scratch on your eye, but give it the time it needs and it will heal nicely. So far things are looking very good. How is the vision in your right eye?"  
  
"A little blurry actually."  
  
"Don't worry about that. It will go away soon. That is a result of the concussion."  
  
"Hey Doc when can I get out of here? This wasn't exactly how I was planning on spending my vacation."  
  
The doctor grinned. "I want to make sure you get this first round of antibiotics, and then I don't see any reason why we can't spring you in the early evening. You'll need to come back in a few days so we can check your eye and make sure none of the stitches in your cheek and forehead have pulled out."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"All right then. I'll see you later today."  
  
After the nurse hooked him up to the IV and left the room Bosco looked at Faith. "Hey Faith."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Will you do me a favor?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
He grinned. "I'm in desperate need of a kiss."  
  
"Oh really?"  
  
"Yeah," his smile grew bigger.  
  
Faith gently kissed his cheek. "How's that?"  
  
"Oh come on. That wasn't a kiss. That was a peck on the cheek."  
  
"I don't know if you're in any condition to be kissed Bosco," she grinned.  
  
"Hey if anything happens at least I'm already at the hospital."  
  
Once again Faith leaned over. This time she kissed his lips. Bosco raised a hand to her face as he returned her kiss. A few seconds later it was broken as Faith stood up slightly. With a hand resting on top of his head she took a hard look at his face. "Are you OK?" she asked remembering how exhausted he had looked after they shared a kiss the night before.  
  
"Much better. Thanks," he grinned.  
  
She sat on the edge of the hospital bed and smiled at him. "You know, you look pretty cute in that hospital gown."  
  
"Of course I do."  
  
"Maybe we should ask the nurse if we can take it with us."  
  
Faith sat back down in the chair beside his bed. She took his hand. "You should get some rest." He nodded, and within minutes was fast asleep. ****** Later that evening Faith had to practically carry Bosco from the taxi to their hotel room. He was still dizzy and having one eye covered didn't make it very easy to walk in even a remotely straight line. "Couch or bed?" she asked as she kicked the door open.  
  
"Bed definitely."  
  
She helped him to the bedroom. Faith had one arm wrapped tightly around his waist, holding him up by his shorts. Her other hand was holding on to Bosco's arm which was flung around her shoulders. She eased him into a sitting position on the bed and bent down to take his shoes off. "No.no, let me lay down first. I need to lay down." He started to fall toward the pillows. Faith hopped up quickly and helped ease him down. Then she lifted his legs onto the bed.  
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
"Will be. Just let me rest," he said weakly.  
  
"I can't believe they released you in this bad of shape. You should still be in the hospital where they can keep an eye on you."  
  
"I'm OK."  
  
"Right Bosco. You're obviously not seeing the same thing I am." Faith took off his shoes and headed for the kitchen.  
  
"Where you going?"  
  
"I'm just getting something to drink. You want something?"  
  
"Just you," he smiled.  
  
When Faith came back into the bedroom she laid down next to Bosco. She rested her head on his chest. He put his arm around her and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm sorry. I hope this doesn't ruin the rest of our trip."  
  
She lifted her head and turned to look at him. "I'm just glad you're going to be all right." She put a finger on his chin and smiled. "Besides, I really enjoy spending time with you. I'm not worried about what we do just as long as we do it together. OK? So don't worry about it." Faith laid her head back on his chest and put her arm around him. 


	10. Chapter 10

Let The Sun Shine Through Part 10 ****** I still don't own Third Watch or any of the characters, and I'm STILL bummed about that!  
  
Thanks for all the great feedback! You people really know how to make me smile! ***** JULY 7th.Florida.Day 6 Bosco sat up suddenly. He quickly regretted the movement and brought a hand to his head to try and stop the room from spinning. "Faith?"  
  
She came into the room. "What's wrong?! Are you OK?!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm OK." He was still pressing the heel of his hand to his temple.  
  
"I'm sorry. I dropped a plate in the sink. I didn't mean to wake you."  
  
"It's OK." He moved so he was sitting with his back leaning against the headboard.  
  
Faith walked over and sat next to him, resting a hand on his leg. "How are you feeling today?"  
  
"Better."  
  
"And what do you mean by better?" she asked with a look that only a mother could give.  
  
"What? Are you my mother now?" he laughed. She just looked at him so he quickly turned serious. "I've got a headache, and I sat up too quick so I'm a little dizzy."  
  
She nodded. "Nauseous?"  
  
He slowly shook his head. "Not really."  
  
"It's good to see you sitting up," she commented. Bosco had been laying flat on his back ever since suffering the injury. Faith watched him closely as he was still trying to stop the spinning. "Maybe you should lay back down."  
  
"Unh, unh," he grunted. "I'm tired of laying down." He pushed the covers off his legs and looked at Faith. "I need to get some aspirin."  
  
She stood up. "You stay put. I'll get it."  
  
"No Faith. I'll get it. I need to stretch out."  
  
"Bosco you could hardly stand upright last night. I don't think it's such a good idea for you to be trying to walk around. You should be taking it easy."  
  
"Faith I can do this. Would you relax?!" He lowered his feet to the floor and pushed himself off the bed. As soon as he was standing he grabbed a hold of Faith to steady himself. She didn't say a word, but he knew what she was thinking. "I'm OK. I just stood up too fast."  
  
He slowly made his way to the bathroom. Faith wasn't far behind. "Faith you don't have to follow me."  
  
"I just want to make sure you're OK."  
  
"I'm fine." She narrowed her eyes. "Honest. I'm OK."  
  
"Well if you need me I'll be in the kitchen."  
  
Bosco quickly found the aspirin and washed them down with some water. He was washing his hands after answering nature's call when he looked into the mirror for the first time. "Shit," he swore softly as he took in his appearance. He leaned closer to the mirror to get a better look at his bruised and swollen face. Bosco carefully removed the bandages from his cheek and forehead then slowly took off the patch and protective padding that were over his left eye. He just stood there looking at himself.  
  
Faith walked back into the bedroom thinking maybe Bosco had crawled back into bed and fallen asleep. When she saw he wasn't in bed she made her way over to the bathroom. The door was slightly ajar. "Bosco is everything OK?" He didn't answer. Faith slowly pushed the door open and poked her head inside to find Bosco standing in front of the mirror. "Bosco? What are you doing?" she asked softly. He turned toward her and she could now see that he had taken the bandages off. "Why'd you take them off?" she asked as she pointed to the discarded bandages on the counter.  
  
"I wanted to see what it looked like. I look like shit."  
  
"No you don't. You look fine."  
  
He pointed at his face. "How can you even look at me?!"  
  
"Bosco-"  
  
"I look like shit," he said again.  
  
"Bosco you got hit with a beer bottle and it shattered. You have twenty- seven stitches and a scratched eye. What were you expecting?"  
  
"How can you kiss me when I look like this?! My face is so.so ugly," he said, repulsed by what he had seen in the mirror.  
  
He wouldn't look at her so she put her hands on his head and turned his face toward hers. "Since when have you been so wrapped up in the way you look?"  
  
"My looks are all I have Faith."  
  
"That's not true Bosco and you know it! I think this concussion is seriously screwing with your head."  
  
"Come on Faith! Every relationship I have ever had has been based solely on physical attraction!"  
  
She walked up and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Not this one. I don't kiss you because of the way you look. I mean, you're a handsome, attractive guy, but I kiss you because of what's in here," she pointed to his chest. "I'm attracted to you because of how you make me feel. Not because of how you look." She paused. "And even with all the cuts and bruises you're still as gorgeous as ever."  
  
He just shook his head. Faith pulled him closer and kissed him with all the passion she could muster. Bosco put a hand on each side of her face pulling her in and deepening their kiss. When they pulled apart Faith looked at him. "Are you going to snap out of this funk you're in?"  
  
He smiled. "Yeah, I'll work on it," he said softly.  
  
She took both of his hands in hers. "Well Bos. Since you've already taken the bandage off your eye I guess now would be a good time to break out the eye drops."  
  
"Oh man do we have to? Those things kill."  
  
"Yeah we do. Why don't you go lay back down, and I'll be there in a minute." Faith retrieved the eye drops and returned to find Bosco sitting on the bed. "Are you OK?"  
  
"Would you quit asking me that?!" he snapped.  
  
"Hey I'm concerned about you." He turned to her. She could see that he was sorry for what he said, but he didn't say anything. Faith acted like nothing happened because she knew that he didn't mean it. "OK Bos. Lay down so I can do this." She said as she held up the bottle of eye drops.  
  
"Can we do it later?"  
  
"Actually you have to use these three times a day."  
  
"Three times! Oh man, you have no idea how bad those things hurt."  
  
"You're right I don't, but I did give birth to two children so I might have an idea," she smiled. "Now come on Bosco. The sooner we do this the sooner it's over."  
  
Bosco finally agreed and laid down on the bed. As soon as he was laying down Faith could see him tense up. She smiled. "It's true what they say."  
  
"What?" he asked a little confused.  
  
"The toughest guys are the biggest babies when they're sick or hurt."  
  
"I resent that."  
  
"No. You resemble that. I bet you're the biggest wuss when you're sick," she laughed.  
  
"I am not! And would you quit making fun of me?! This seriously hurts," he said as he pointed to his eye.  
  
"I know. I'm sorry. I'm just not used to seeing this side of you," she leaned down and kissed him. "So, you ready?"  
  
"I don't think I have much choice."  
  
Faith slowly and gently opened Bosco's eye. He flinched at the contact. She then plopped three drops of the solution into his eye. "There, now that wasn't so bad was it?" she asked as she rubbed his arm.  
  
"Well, I'm still breathing."  
  
She kissed him once more and then stood up. "I need to recover your eye and those cuts then I'll get you some ice. Maybe we can get the swelling to go down some."  
  
Bosco relaxed and closed his eye as he lay there waiting for Faith to return. "Twenty seven stitches huh?" He asked as she sat down next to him laying the gauze pads and medical tape on the nightstand.  
  
"Yeah," she sighed. "That guy really did a number on you. The doctor was able to glue some of the other cuts, but you had some pretty big ones." She paused. "You were really lucky."  
  
"I want a piece of that guy."  
  
She chuckled, "Now that's the Bosco I know." After she finished covering his cuts and his eye Faith gently laid an ice pack on the left side of Bosco's face.  
  
"Damn that's cold!"  
  
"It's ice. It's supposed to be cold." Even though half of his face was covered she could still tell that he was glaring at her.  
  
"You know what I meant." ****** It was a few hours later when Bosco woke up. He slowly sat up and surveyed the room for Faith. When he saw that she wasn't there he got up and walked through the hotel room. He spotted her sitting outside on the patio. Bosco slid the glass door open and joined her outside. "Hey," he said as he sat down across from her.  
  
"Hi," she smiled. "I don't know if it's such a good idea for you to be out here."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well with all the dirt and sand flying around I'm just worried you'd get an infection."  
  
"Faith it's not like I'm going to be rolling around in the sand. I'm just sitting here."  
  
"I know but---"  
  
"Look you put enough gauze and tape on my face I don't think a grain of sand could get through even if it wanted to, so relax."  
  
"How's your head?"  
  
He nodded. "Good. Really good."  
  
Faith watched as Bosco put his hand on his stomach. "You nauseous?"  
  
"No, actually I'm starving."  
  
"Well you haven't eaten in almost two days. What would you like for dinner?"  
  
"Pizza."  
  
"Pizza? Bosco you've been extremely nauseous lately I don't think pizza is the best choice."  
  
"Come on Faith. Please. It'll be OK." He gave her his best puppy dog look, and thirty minutes later they were sitting in front of the TV eating pizza from Pizza Hut. "This is so good," he said with his mouth full.  
  
"Yeah, but you should really slow down or you're going to make yourself sick."  
  
"OK Mom," Bosco went to take a bite of the slice he was holding when he dropped it on his shirt. "Dammit!" He quickly picked the pizza off his shirt and threw it back in the box. "Son of a bitch!"  
  
Faith stood up. "Give me your shirt."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Take your shirt off and I'll take care of it before the stain sets."  
  
Bosco agreed, took off his shirt, and then handed it to Faith. While she was washing his shirt he realized that maybe she was right about pizza being a bad idea. His stomach started to churn. He stood up and made his way to the bedroom. "I'm going to go lay down," he informed Faith.  
  
"Are you feeling OK?"  
  
He nodded. "Yeah. I just need to lay down."  
  
Faith came into the room with the bottle of eye drops. "Time for another round." She sat next to him. Bosco didn't object or even flinch this time. "Are you sure you're feeling OK?"  
  
He looked at her. "My stomach's a little upset. No big deal."  
  
She leaned over and kissed him. Even with the cuts and bruises she still thought he was very attractive. Faith ran her hand over his bare chest. Then ran kisses all the way down to his navel. It tickled, and he chuckled, "What are you doing?"  
  
"I can't help it. I just adore you, and when you're half naked you're even harder to resist than when you're in a hospital gown," she grinned as she kissed his chin.  
  
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down onto the bed with him. He kissed her lips as they rolled over together. When they were on their sides Bosco ended the kiss. He gently brushed the hair out of her face. "Have I told you how glad I am that you came on vacation with me?"  
  
She smiled at him, placed her hand on his chest, and once again their lips met. 


	11. Chapter 11

Let the Sun Shine Through Part 11 ***** Once again I'll tell you I don't own Third Watch or any of the characters.  
  
Secondly I just want to let you know that I know NOTHING about the process of getting a divorce, so just act like I'm right. LOL!  
  
Thanks for all the feedback. ****** JULY 8th.FLORIDA.DAY 7 "Owww! Dammit!" Bosco woke up just as fast as he had rolled over.  
  
Faith woke with a start. "What?! What's wrong?!" she asked sleepily as she rubbed at her eyes.  
  
"I just rolled over and my cheek hit the pillow. Gawd that hurt."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry," she rubbed his shoulder. "You want me to get you some ice?"  
  
"No. I'll get it," he stood up and went into the kitchen.  
  
Faith propped herself up on her elbow and watched him walk away. Bosco was only wearing a pair of shorts. She couldn't help but stare at his muscular body. She laughed at herself. "I'm acting just like Emily when she's got a crush." Faith watched as he went into the living room. "Aren't you coming back to bed?"  
  
"No. There's no way I'll be able to fall asleep again," he stretched out on the couch.  
  
She went into the living room and walked to the couch. "May I join you?"  
  
"Free country," he grinned as he made room for her.  
  
Faith lay down in front of him on the couch. Bosco rested his head on the cushion, her head was right under his chin. He fixed the ice pack so it would sit on his face without falling off then he wrapped his left arm around Faith. She put her arm on his and laced her fingers between Bosco's. They lay there together and a few minutes later Faith smiled as she heard him snoring softly. "And he was sure he couldn't fall asleep again." ***** It was 10:15 when Faith woke to the sound of a cell phone ringing. Bosco didn't stir, so she slowly moved his arm off of her and slid off the couch. She picked the phone up off the table and went into the bedroom so she wouldn't wake Bosco. "Hello."  
  
"Faith. This is Mike Wilson. I have some news for you."  
  
"Hi Mike. What's up?"  
  
"I just wanted to call and let you know that Fred signed the divorce papers, so the divorce is pretty much official."  
  
"What do you mean 'pretty much'?" She sat down on the bed.  
  
"Well now it just has to go through the proper channels which may take some time, and then there is going to be a custody hearing, but as far as the divorce goes; since you both signed the papers it's basically official."  
  
"When is the custody hearing?"  
  
"They haven't set a date yet, but as soon as I find out I'll let you know."  
  
"OK. Thanks Mike." Faith hit the 'end' button on the phone, and sighed. Fred had signed the papers terminating their marriage which must have meant he too knew there was no way to salvage their relationship.  
  
She was saddened by the fact that this chapter of her life was over. She had known Fred since high school, and had been madly in love with him at one time. But things had changed. After the kids were born it was as if they grew further apart rather than closer together. She couldn't remember the last time she was happy with Fred. Truly happy. Faith felt the tears well up in her eyes, but then she thought about the man who was sleeping in the next room and she smiled. ***** The ice pack on Bosco's face had started to melt and he woke when water began to drip down his chin. He took the ice pack into the kitchen and dropped it in the sink. When he turned around Faith was on her way back to the living room. "Hey. You OK?" he asked as he noticed the expression on her face.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine." She put the cell phone in her purse.  
  
"I know you better than that. Spill it."  
  
She sighed. "My lawyer just called."  
  
"And?"  
  
"Fred signed the divorce papers."  
  
"Good. 'Cause I was startin' to get a little worried seeing as I had been kissing a married woman," he grinned, but quickly noticed that her expression had not changed. "Faith? It is a good thing isn't it? You still want the divorce don't you?"  
  
"Yeah Bos. It's a good thing. It's just.I don't know. Fred and I were together for so long."  
  
"But you weren't happy." Bosco was starting to worry that she was rethinking the divorce, and jumped to the conclusion that she was unhappy with her current relationship with him.  
  
"I know. It's just a big step. I didn't know it would hit me so hard."  
  
Bosco took a deep breath. "Faith can I ask you something?" She nodded. "Do you have feelings for me or was I just convenient?"  
  
"What?! How can you even ask me that?!"  
  
"Well it's just that you've never seemed interested in me before then all of a sudden I find out you're getting divorced and the next thing I know we're sleeping in the same bed and everything."  
  
The sky turned dark and lightning illuminated the room.  
  
"What?!"  
  
Thunder clapped.  
  
"You know what I mean! Are you just using me because you're afraid to be alone?! Or do you really care about me?!"  
  
The sky opened up and rain poured down heavily.  
  
"Maybe I was wrong to even think that I could have a relationship with you! This past week I thought I had gotten to know the real you! But it turns out that deep down you're the same selfish bastard you always were!"  
  
Lightning continued to split the dark sky and the thunder grew louder.  
  
Faith turned her back on Bosco, grabbed her purse and the keys to his Mustang then headed out the door. "Faith. I'm sorry. I didn't----" She slammed the door without so much as glancing at him. "Faith!" ****** The rain came down as Bosco stood motionless staring out the sliding glass door. He wanted so badly to turn around and go after Faith, but he had no idea how to fix what he had done. He didn't know what came over him or why he had suddenly become so insecure. All he knew was that he had made a huge mistake and he would do anything to take back what he had said. ***** Faith ran through the rain to Bosco's car. She climbed inside. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew that she needed to get away from him. How could he think that of her after what they had been through this last week? She was really starting to fall for him and then he had to go and break her heart with his words.  
  
***** Bosco looked at the clock. It was almost 2:30 and Faith wasn't back yet. She had been gone a little over three hours. He shut off the TV that he had turned on just for the noise. His heart was heavy knowing that it was he who had upset Faith. He had seen her upset at work before, but normally it was because of something Fred had done. Sure, she occasionally got mad or annoyed with Bosco, but they had been able to work through all their problems. But this was different. He had accused her of using him.  
  
It was still raining, but Bosco couldn't stay inside any longer. He threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, left a note for Faith and headed out the door. Bosco walked down the street to where there were a bunch of small shops. "Maybe I can buy her something to say I'm sorry." He thought as he walked into the first store. "Yeah right Maurice. There's no gift in the world to make up for what I did." ****** Bosco unlocked the hotel room door a little after five. "Faith?" There was no answer and he walked inside to find the note he had left for her still in the place he had put it. "Damn." He was soaking wet, and cold from walking in the rain so he decided to take a hot shower.  
  
He didn't bother covering his eye or his cuts after getting out of the shower. Instead he went straight to the kitchen to get some ice because the hot water had caused his face to swell again. Faith still wasn't back so he picked up the phone and dialed her cell.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Faith it's me." She hung up on him. Bosco dialed her number again.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Faith it's Bosco." Once again Faith hung up and Bosco redialed.  
  
"The cellular customer you are trying to reach is either unavailable or has traveled outside of their calling area."  
  
"DAMMIT!" Bosco slammed the phone down and put his head in his hands. ***** Bosco fell asleep on the couch waiting for Faith to return. It was a little before eleven when she came in. She spotted Bosco asleep on the couch and the first thing the mother in her noticed was that his eye wasn't covered. She gently shook him. "Bosco. Bosco."  
  
"Huh? What?" he sat up. "Hey you're back."  
  
"Have you used your eye drops today?" He shook his head. "Go get in bed. I'll be in to take care of your eye," she said sternly. Bosco could tell she was in no mood to mess around so he did as he was told.  
  
Without a word Faith came into the bedroom, administered the eye drops and covered his eye and cuts. "Where have you been?" he asked softly not wanting to make her mad. She didn't answer. Instead she laid the ice pack over his bruises. "Faith I'm sorry."  
  
She looked at him. "Sorry isn't going to cut it Bosco." Faith turned off the overhead light leaving the small lamp between the beds on. She pulled down the covers of the other bed and climbed in.  
  
Tonight there were no goodnights said. Faith didn't let her hand linger on his chest. There was no kiss. Tonight they lay awake in separate beds listening to the raging thunderstorm. 


	12. Chapter 12

Let The Sun Shine Through Part 12.GEEZ! Never thought my shipper story would last this long! ***** Same old same old when it comes to the stuff I DON'T own! *****  
  
JULY 9th.FLORIDA.Day 8 Faith spent most of the night tossing and turning. She hardly slept at all as she laid there thinking about the fight she and Bosco had. She still couldn't believe he had said those things to her. Sure Bosco had been known to say some stupid things to the women in his life, but after spending a week with him, and getting to know him on a different level she never saw this coming. ***** Bosco laid awake most of the night. As he watched the red and green lights blink on the smoke detector above his bed all he could think about was how badly he had treated Faith. As he listened to the rain he played different scenarios of how to apologize to her in his head. Unfortunately none of them had a happy ending.  
  
It was 6:15AM when Bosco finally gave up on trying to sleep. He kicked off the covers, grabbed some clothes and went to take a shower. ***** When Bosco closed the bathroom door Faith sat up, and pulled her knees to her chest. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees. "I hate this. I already miss him," she said to herself. "But he was so wrong." Faith dragged herself out of bed and went to the kitchen to make some coffee. ***** "Hey look," Bosco said as he sat down next to Faith at the kitchen table. He pointed at his left eye, which was still severely bruised, but was no longer swollen shut.  
  
"How's your vision?" she asked dryly.  
  
"Blurry, but at least I can see."  
  
"Yeah," Faith went back to reading the newspaper she had gotten from the front desk.  
  
"Can you uh.would you help me with this?" he asked as he held up the eye drops and gauze pads.  
  
"What, you can't do it yourself?"  
  
"Never mind," he said as he looked down. "I hate this!" he thought to himself.  
  
"I'll do it," she said with a sigh. "Put your head back." Bosco did what he was told and Faith once again took care of his eye and covered his cuts. "There," she said when she had finished.  
  
"Thanks." Bosco noticed how cold she was toward him.  
  
"I'm going to shower."  
  
When he heard the water running Bosco went into the bedroom and pulled three packages out of his duffle bag. He took them into the living room and put them on the floor next to the couch so they were out of sight. He took a deep breath. "I hope this works."  
  
While he waited for Faith to finish showering he sat and watched the rain. "I thought Florida was supposed to be the sunshine state." ***** Faith opened the bathroom door and the steam quickly escaped. As soon as he heard the click of the door opening Bosco walked into the bedroom. "Faith can we talk?"  
  
"There's nothing to talk about. I heard you loud and clear yesterday."  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."  
  
"You must have meant it because you said it."  
  
"But I didn't."  
  
"What? This coming from the same guy that believes everything his mother says is true just because it comes out of her mouth."  
  
"What's that got to do with this?!"  
  
"You said it Bosco, and it hurt me. If you said it, you must have meant it. You must really feel that I just used you because you were convenient."  
  
"Faith it's not true. I don't know why I said it."  
  
"So you just want to pass it off as temporary insanity. Is that it?!"  
  
"No! I want to apologize."  
  
"You want me to say everything's OK because you say you're sorry?!"  
  
"Gawd Faith would you just hear me out?!"  
  
She crossed her arms. "OK. I'm listening."  
  
"Come here," he said as he walked into the living room and sat on the couch. She sat on the other end. "Look," he sighed. "What I said yesterday was stupid and thoughtless, and I'm sorry. Truly sorry. It's just that.well, you seemed like you were having second thoughts and I thought you were questioning being with me," he said sadly.  
  
Faith softened a little as she listened to him. "How can I not accept his apology? Yes, what he said hurt, but it would hurt so much more not to have him in my life," she thought as she looked at him. She started to say something, but he stopped her.  
  
"I'm just a little insecure. It's been a long time since I've been in a meaningful relationship, and it's just.I don't know, I've never felt this way before." Bosco moved closer to Faith and took her hand. "I don't know if you'll be able to forgive me for what I said, but I hope you can."  
  
There was an awkward moment of silence, and Bosco feared the worst. He put his head down, and started to let go of her hand. Faith moved her hand to the side of his face. "Bos, I'm sorry too. I should have talked to you about this instead of assuming you'd understand how I felt," She ran her hand through his hair. "I missed you last night." She leaned in and kissed his lips.  
  
"So you forgive me?"  
  
She smiled. "You know I could never stay mad at you."  
  
He laughed. "Really?! Cause you've been pretty mad at me before and---"  
  
"Yeah well I can't help it. You do some pretty stupid stuff at work."  
  
"What? Me? Never!" He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. After they kissed again he smiled. "Hold on a sec. I have something for you." Bosco grabbed one of the packages from next to the couch. "Here." He handed her the bag.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"Just open it."  
  
She laughed. "What? Were you going to try to buy me back with gifts?"  
  
"Well, yeah, if the apology didn't work I figured it couldn't hurt. Now open it."  
  
Faith opened the package and took out two tickets. She turned them over and a huge smile crept across her face. "Tickets to Disney World?!" He nodded with a boyish grin. "But I thought you said there was no way you would go there."  
  
"Hey, I was prepared to grovel. Still am."  
  
"When are we going?"  
  
"Put on your shoes and grab your purse."  
  
"Serious?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Faith gave him a hug, and while they embraced she noticed that it had stopped raining. "Hey, looks like the sun's going to shine through." ***** Bosco had just finished stuffing the other two packages into his backpack when Faith came into the room all ready to go. "You ready?" she asked as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.  
  
"Yeah." He tossed her the car keys. "You obviously have to drive. Unless of course you want to ride around with a one eyed guy," he joked.  
  
She caught the keys. "All right, move it out." Faith motioned for Bosco to walk ahead of her. As she started to follow him she spotted his bottle of eye drops sitting on the table. "Bosco I think you forgot something," she said as she went back and picked up the bottle.  
  
He groaned when he saw what she was talking about. "Oh come on Faith. Isn't it bad enough that I have to walk around looking like this all day?"  
  
"Are you still hung up on how you look?"  
  
"You would be too if it looked like someone used your face for a punching bag."  
  
"Come here," she grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him through the room.  
  
"What are you--? Where are---?" Bosco was shocked. "Faith."  
  
She pulled him into the bathroom, closed the lid to the toilet and sat Bosco down. Faith grabbed her makeup bag and pulled out her cover-up. She turned toward him.  
  
He put his hands in front of his face. "Whoa. Whoa! What the hell are you doing?!"  
  
"I'm gonna cover you bruises."  
  
He shook his head. "Like hell! No way!" He crossed his arms over his chest. "No way. I'm not wearing makeup. Forget it!"  
  
Faith put the makeup back in her bag. "OK. I've got another idea." She left the bathroom and returned with his baseball hat and sunglasses. "Put these on." He did as instructed. When he was done she pulled him to his feet and turned him so he was looking in the mirror. "See, you can hardly tell." She wrapped her arms around his waist and stood behind him.  
  
"Hey not bad," he smiled. "You can't even see the bandage on my forehead and the brim is so low you can hardly see the eye patch. I think I can live with this showing," he pointed at his cheek. He turned around and kissed her. "Thanks Faith. I never would have thought of this."  
  
"Yeah well it comes with being a mom. It just took me a little while to get in "boy mode". The makeup solution worked for Emily when she had a black eye after Charlie threw a toy car at her," she laughed at the memory. "I should have known it wouldn't work for you. Can we go now?"  
  
"Absolutely." ***** They pulled into the Disney World parking lot a little before one o'clock. Bosco got out of the car and stretched his arms before throwing his backpack over his shoulder. "OK Bosco. Help me remember where we parked."  
  
He looked up at the sign. "For cryin' out loud."  
  
"What?"  
  
Bosco pointed to the sign above them "We're in the Goofy parking lot. Geez. I swear Faith if anyone at the station finds out that I went to Disney World you and I are going to have some problems."  
  
"Oh get over it. You're going to have a blast."  
  
"Yeah, I better."  
  
Hand in hand they walked toward the main entrance of the Magic Kingdom. They presented their tickets to the man at the gate, and were on their way. "So, what do you want to do first Faith? Rides, shopping, food, just walk around? You name it and that's what we'll do." ***** They spent the day going from ride to ride and occasionally stopping to look at the small stores that were spread out along the way. Every line they had to wait in seemed to move slowly, but they didn't care because they were once again happy to be together. While they waited in line Bosco would stand behind Faith with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder, and in each line they would ask someone standing by them to take their picture.  
  
"Man, I never thought I would actually have a good time at Disney World, but these rides are great," grinned Bosco.  
  
"Yeah? Which was your favorite?"  
  
"Definitely Space Mountain, but Splash Mountain was good too. What about you? Which was your favorite? And please don't say 'It's a Small World'. That was the lamest thing I've every seen."  
  
"Oh I don't know. I think I'm partial to the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I don't know why I just liked that one."  
  
"Hey there's one more we have to go on."  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"That teacup one. What's it called? The Mad Tea Party. I mean, that's a classic isn't it? No trip would be complete without taking a spin in a teacup." Once again they stood in a long line, but they enjoyed their time together. It was as if the rest of the world didn't exist when he had his arms around her.  
  
When they got to the front of the line the person running the ride realized that Bosco and Faith were obviously a couple, and placed them in their own teacup. As they sat waiting for the ride to start Bosco got a smirk on his face. "Oh no. I don't like the look on your face."  
  
"What look?"  
  
"That one. The one that says you're cooking up some idea that I'm not going to like."  
  
He tried to hide his smile. "Honest Faith I don't know what you are talking about." The ride started slowly just as Bosco finished his sentence. As soon as the ride picked up speed Bosco began to turn the wheel that was between them. The wheel that would make their teacup spin just as fast or as slow as they wanted.  
  
"Bosco don't you dare," warned Faith, but his smile grew bigger and bigger as the seconds passed and he kept turning the wheel. Everything went blurry as their teacup spun out of control. "Bosco stop," laughed Faith.  
  
The ride slowed, and came to a stop. Bosco and Faith exited the ride laughing hysterically and trying to stand upright. As they stumbled away Bosco looked at Faith. "That was fun. Wanna do it again?"  
  
"No! I can't believe you did that. My head is spinning," she laughed.  
  
"Your head is spinning, imagine how I feel. This was how I felt the last couple days." ***** They went and found a place where they could sit down and have dinner. After they finished eating Bosco walked Faith over to Main Street U.S.A. where the SpectroMagic Parade was set to start in about forty-five minutes. "Wow Bosco you really had this planned out didn't you?"  
  
"Well, you were gone for a long time yesterday. I had lots of time on my hands. I'm just glad that everything is OK between us and we were able to come here and enjoy it."  
  
"Yeah, me too," she squeezed his hand. "Thanks for bringing me here."  
  
He nodded. "So where did you go yesterday anyway?"  
  
"I just drove. Stopped at a restaurant, and drank about two pots of coffee. Then I drove some more. Basically that's what I did all day long." She looked at him. "Sorry about just taking your car like that."  
  
"It's OK. With what I said to you, you deserved to take the car. Besides it wasn't like I could drive it anyway."  
  
They found a vacant bench and sat down to wait for the parade to start. It didn't take long and the street was lined with people. Bosco sat with his arm around Faith as they watched the people walking by.  
  
The parade started and they were amazed at what could be done with Disney characters, moving parts and a bunch of lights. Bosco still couldn't believe he was having this much fun. He looked over at Faith and saw the smile on her face, and it reminded him of why he came here. He would do anything for her.  
  
Bosco reached into his bag and pulled out the two packages that he had brought along. The parade was coming to an end, and he wanted to give these to her. He turned to her. "Faith I have something else for you."  
  
"What? On top of all this you have something else? You really were prepared to grovel," she laughed. Faith took in the serious look on his face as he handed her the first package. Carefully she opened the bag, and took out the small jewelry box that was inside. "Bosco what is this?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Look and see."  
  
Faith pulled back the cover and found a ring inside. She looked at him. "Bos?"  
  
He took the ring out of the box. "This in an Irish Friendship Ring." He held it so they could both look at it. "The crown is for loyalty. The hands are for friendship. And the heart is for love." He smiled. "I wish I could take off this damn eye patch and look at you with both my eyes, but we're going to have to settle for just one." She nodded with a smile. Bosco took a deep breath. "Earlier today I told you that I had never felt this way before. When I was dating Nicole I thought I was in love with her. I thought that she was the one, and I was wrong. I never told her I loved her, well, at least I never meant it. I didn't know what it meant. But right here. Right now. I know what it means." He took her right hand in his. "I love you Faith. More than I've ever loved anyone before."  
  
A tear rolled down her cheek. "I love you too Bos."  
  
"When this ring is worn on the ring finger of your right hand with the heart pointing toward you it means that you are spoken for. I'd like it if you would wear this." He looked at her, and she nodded her head. Bosco slipped the ring onto her finger. "I don't know where this is headed Faith, but I'm going to give it all I have." He wiped the tears from her cheeks. "And if for some reason things don't work out between us. I still want you to wear the ring because you'll always have a special place in my heart."  
  
Faith looked at the ring she was now wearing on her right hand, and without hesitating she took her wedding ring off of her left hand and put it in her pocket. She kissed Bosco tenderly. When they separated Bosco pulled out another package and handed it to her. "Bosco, don't you think this is enough?" He shook his head, and she opened the next package to find another jewelry box. She opened it, and found another ring, but this was a man's ring. Faith looked up at Bosco. He could see the question in her eyes.  
  
"And this is my friendship ring to show everyone that I am spoken for."  
  
Faith placed the ring on his finger. She took the hat off his head, and kissed him passionately. After what seemed like an eternity they broke their connection and carefully rested their foreheads together. "Faith I love you."  
  
"I know Bos, and I love you." They sat together on the park bench and watched Disney's Fantasy in the Sky outside of Cinderella's Castle. Bosco had his arm around Faith. She turned to him. "Since when have you been such a romantic? Ever since I've known you, you have always been asking me for ideas. What happened?"  
  
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I guess it just took finding the right woman to bring out my good side," he grinned.  
  
They kissed once more then returned their gaze to the fireworks when Bosco began to think out loud. "Maybe someday we can take Emily and Lil' Charlie to Disney Land. That could be fun."  
  
******** ******** Author's Note: For those of you who have been to Disney World and know the place well I apologize if any of that is wrong! It's been a LONG time since I've been there, and I'm just hoping I got the names right! 


	13. Chapter 13

Let The Sun Shine Through  
Part 13  
******  
I'm giving this chapter a PG-13 rating :)   
  
Still don't own Third Watch.  
  
Thinking this story might end up being a series!  
  
******  
JULY 10th...FLORDIA...DAY 9  
Bosco was face to face with Faith when he opened his eyes sometime early in the morning. He gently kissed her forehead and ran his fingers through her hair. For a moment he watched her sleep, and before falling back to sleep he whispered, "I love you."  
*****  
Faith shifted slightly and opened her eyes. She smiled as she watched Bosco sleep. Careful not to wake him she gently kissed him and placed her hand on his chest. "So this is what it's like to be happy," she said softly before closing her eyes.  
*****  
She stood in the bedroom doorway. "Bosco get your ass out of bed! You're going to be late."  
  
"Like I've never been late before."  
  
"Your doctor's appointment is at ten. Get a move on!"  
  
"Yeah, and I'll get there at quarter to ten and won't even get to see the doctor until almost eleven. I've got plenty of time."  
  
"Bosco," she said sternly as she gave him her best 'I'm warning you' look.  
  
"Fifteen more minutes Faith," Bosco pulled the covers over his head.  
  
Faith marched into the room and pulled the covers off of him. "NOW Maurice!"  
  
He sat up quickly. "You just used my first name."  
  
"Yeah I know."  
  
"But the way you said it...you said it like my mom used to when I was in trouble," he shuddered at the thought. "I hated the way she said it."  
  
"And I bet it was even better when she used your full name."  
  
"Come on now. I thought you were my girlfriend, not my mother."  
  
"Well when you start acting like Charlie I have to treat you like Charlie," she grinned.  
  
"But it's freezing in here and you just ripped the covers off me."  
  
"It's not my fault you insisted on having the air conditioner on high all night."  
  
He shook his head. "Either way, just now, that was cruel and unusual punishment."  
  
"Oh come here you big baby," she pulled him to his feet and wrapped her arms around him. "I'll warm you up."  
  
Bosco got a devilish grin on this face as he slid his hands into the back pockets of her shorts. "I could get used to this."  
  
"Don't get too used to it; you need to go shower."  
  
"You showering with me?" he asked with a wink.  
  
"No. I showered over an hour ago. You missed your chance," she grinned.  
  
"Damn," he kissed her quickly then turned to walk away. Faith gave his butt a quick slap. He jumped. "Hey! You better watch it young lady."  
*****  
Faith and Bosco were sitting in the waiting room at the doctor's office. Bosco looked at his watch. "See, it's almost eleven and I haven't even been called in yet. And you know that after they call me I'm going to be sitting back there waiting for who knows how much longer," Bosco griped. "I hate doctors offices."  
  
"I swear Bosco you're worse than my kids."  
  
He glared at her. "Come on Faith. You and I bust our asses all day, and we don't get paid squat. We ride around with lights and sirens to get to people fast. We put our lives on the line everyday." He waved his arms around. "These people...they get paid big bucks and then they make us wait. I hate it!"  
  
As soon as Bosco's tirade was over a nurse stepped into the waiting room. "Maurice Boscorelli."  
  
Bosco hopped up and looked at Faith who was still sitting. "You coming?"  
  
Faith was shocked. "Sure. If you want me to."  
  
He nodded. "Come keep me company. I may be waiting a while."  
  
They were led into an exam room where once again they waited. Bosco jumped up and sat on the exam table, and Faith had a seat in the chair across from him. Bosco sat with his back straight; his hands resting on his knees. Faith watched him closely. She noticed how he suddenly looked pale, and how his hands were squeezing his knees. He was very tense. "Bos? What's wrong?"  
  
He shook his head. "I hate these places. My hands turn purple. I get cold. I sweat. I hate these places." He rubbed the palms of his hands back and forth repeatedly on his thighs.  
  
Faith walked over to him and stilled his hands. "Bosco relax. The doctor's just going to take off the bandages and look at your eye. It isn't going to hurt."  
  
Bosco shook his head and looked down at his hands, which Faith still held. "That's not it." He forced a chuckle. "I'm not scared."  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
He looked up, but didn't look at her; instead he looked past her at a picture on the wall. He sighed. "When I was a kid, we were always at the doctor's office or the hospital." He shook his head slightly. "Mikey and I would sit in the waiting room for what seemed like *hours* waiting for Ma. And then there were all those times when I'd be the one getting patched up. Sometimes ma wouldn't even come in with me. I was just a kid!"  
  
"I'm sorry Bos," Faith said softly as she ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"What made it worse was that I always had to lie. I'd tell them I fell off my bike or off the monkey bars or I got in a fight at school." His face shook with anger. "Cause if I didn't lie it was only a matter of time before it would happen again." Faith put her hand on his cheek and he calmed slightly. He looked around the room. "They all look the same. They all smell the same. I hate these places. They all bring back the memories."  
  
Faith kissed him. "Yeah, but you don't have to lie any more Bos," she said in almost a whisper.  
  
Bosco looked at Faith. "I won't ever hurt you Faith. You or your kids. I promise."  
  
"I know that Bos. I know that." Their lips met again, but they were soon interrupted by a knock on the door.  
  
The doctor walked in and shook Bosco's hand. Faith retreated to her chair. "Hello Maurice. How's your head?"  
  
He nodded. "Good."  
  
"Any headaches?"  
  
"Pretty much nonstop, but nothing I can't handle."  
  
"Nauseous?"  
  
"Off and on. No big thing."  
  
"Once again that's a result of the concussion, and it will go away in time. Now lets see how you're healing up." The doctor removed the bandages from Bosco's cheek and forehead. "Well these look to be healing nicely. You'll want to have those stitches taken out in about a week. I don't feel you'll need to keep them covered any longer though. They should be fine. Let's have a look at your eye." The doctor removed the patch and padding from Bosco's left eye.  
  
Bosco blinked rapidly and reached up to rub his eye. The doctor quickly grabbed his hand. "Sorry," mumbled Bosco.  
  
"Look straight ahead and pick a spot on the wall. Don't take your eyes off that spot." As Bosco looked at the wall the doctor pulled out a pen light and looked at Bosco's eye. "OK look up...now down...to the left...and now to the right." When he was done he clicked off the light. "How's your vision?"  
  
"Not bad. A little blurry."  
  
"Your eye just needs time to readjust. Now, the scratch has healed well, but there is some blood on the white of your eye. It's nothing to be alarmed about, it's common with this type of injury, and it won't cause any ill effects. However if the spot gets larger you need to have it looked at." The doctor then turned to Faith and acknowledged her for the first time. "Are you his wife?"  
  
Faith grinned. "Girlfriend," she replied.  
  
"OK. Well you probably look into his eyes more than anyone," he smiled. "So how about you come take a look?" She went and stood next to the doctor. "Look straight ahead Maurice. You see that red spot?" Faith nodded. "If you notice that it gets any bigger make sure he has it checked."  
  
"OK."  
  
The doctor shook their hands. "All right then, you can get those stitches removed in a week and you're all set."  
*****  
When they got back to their room they made lunch, and sat down at the table to eat. Bosco looked at Faith. "It's so nice to be able to see you with both my eyes."  
  
"Yeah, well it's nice to have both your eyes looking at me. That patch was starting to creep me out."  
  
"Yeah, but it was kinda sexy wasn't it?" he grinned.  
  
"You don't need an eye patch to look sexy Bos."  
  
"Gee thanks Faith," he laughed.  
  
"I mean it Bosco. I've known you for how many years and always thought you were a good looking guy, but I didn't realize until recently just how hot you are."  
  
Bosco's cheeks turned red. "Same goes for you. Do you think we would have figured it out if we hadn't gone on vacation together?"  
  
"I don't know, but I doubt it. At work I see a completely different side of you. I see Bosco, but now, now I see Maurice. And he's a completely different guy. He's sweet, gentle, romantic." She put her hand on his knee. "But I love the Bosco side of you too," she smiled.  
  
He laughed. "Good, cause I think Maurice would get the shit kicked out of him at work." Bosco put his hand on her thigh. "I love you Faith, and I'm glad I finally figured it out." He shook his head and grinned. "You know I think I've said the 'l-word' more in the last two days than I've said it in all of my adult life."  
  
"You've said it like what? Twice?" she chuckled.  
  
"I know, and to the same woman. It's a new record, and I didn't say it because I was trying to get you in bed. I said it because I meant it."  
  
Faith put her hand behind his head and pulled him into a kiss. "You know we have to leave tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah I know. Back to the real world."  
  
They kissed again, this time with more desire. Their kisses grew longer and deeper. Faith pulled away and stood up. She smiled warmly at him, took his hand, and led him into the bedroom. Together they stood at the foot of the bed. Faith wrapped an arm around his waist and put her other hand behind his head. They kissed as Bosco's hands roamed her back.  
  
Faith took hold of the bottom of Bosco's shirt. He lifted his arms and allowed her to remove it. He then began to unbutton her shirt and eased it off her shoulders. Bosco kissed her shoulder working his way to her neck and then returning to her lips.  
  
She ran her hand over his chest. "Mmmm. I love your chest," she said between kisses. Faith allowed both hands to roam across the muscles of his chest while his hands crept to her backside. She began to kiss his chest. After a few seconds Bosco brought his hands to her head and guided her lips back to his. His hands once again caressed her back as their tongues danced.  
  
Slowly Faith moved her hands from his chest to his stomach and then began to unbutton his shorts. When she started to remove his shorts Bosco stopped. "Whoa Faith," he whispered.  
  
"What's wrong?" she breathed back.  
  
He rested his forehead against hers. "I, uh...I don't have any protection," he said softly.  
  
Faith quickly kissed his lips, and smiled. "I'm not worried," she replied as she once again started to lower his shorts.  
  
He stopped her. "Faith it's a big step."  
  
"I know," she said as she put a hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. She could see the fear and uncertainty. "What?" she asked softly.  
  
"I don't think we're ready. At least I'm not. Not now anyway."  
  
"Bos, we're both adults and we love each other. It's OK," she ran her hand down his cheek and neck and let it settle on his shoulder.  
  
"I know; that's the thing. I love you, but this is new to me. Being in a relationship. Actually being in love." He looked down at the floor. "I know it sounds dumb coming from a guy with my reputation, but I need to take this slow. I want to truly know and love absolutely everything about you before we have sex, not after, like I've tried to do with everyone else. I'm sorry." His words came out soft and gentle.  
  
"Bos look at me. I love you, and if you want to wait we'll wait."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
He kissed her. "Thanks."  
*****  
"Man. I can't believe we have to leave tomorrow," said Bosco as he clasped his hands behind his head and lay back on his towel in the sand.  
  
"I know. I really love it here." Faith replied as she finished putting sun block on her legs. She looked at him lying there taking in the sun's rays. "Bosco you should really put some sun block on. You're still pretty red from the last time we were out here."  
  
"Nah. I'm OK. Besides I hate having that junk all over my hands."  
  
"I'll put it on for you, and I'm not taking no for an answer."  
  
"Look Faith I know you've been a mom for like thirteen years, but I have a mother of my own," he grinned.  
  
"Well obviously you didn't listen to her when you were growing up because if you had then *I* wouldn't have to be telling you to put on sun block."  
  
Bosco just smiled and shook his head as Faith moved over to him. She straddled him and dumped a small amount of lotion on his chest. He sat up slightly. "Hey that's cold." Faith just smiled as she worked the lotion around his chest and stomach. He put his hands on the outside of her thighs. "Are you doing this on purpose?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Earlier I say I'm not ready to have sex, and not an hour later I'm laying on the beach half naked and my beautiful girlfriend is straddling me and rubbing sun block all over my chest." He grinned. "A lesser man wouldn't be able to take this."  
  
Faith raised her eyebrows. "A lesser man?"  
  
He sat up and kissed her. "Yeah. A lesser man."   
  
She pushed him back down onto the beach. Then leaned down to kiss him. As they kissed someone not too far down the beach hollered, "Hey! Get a room!"  
  
Bosco and Faith broke apart quickly. Faith sat up, her cheeks red. Bosco turned toward the direction the shout came from and spotted a group of college aged kids looking at them. He propped himself up on his elbow. "Why don't you mind your own damn business?!" he hollered back. Bosco sat up and kissed Faith once more, this time with more passion. When it was over Bosco and Faith turned back to the group to find them shaking their heads. Bosco and Faith just laughed.  
*****  
"So what are we going to do for dinner?" asked Bosco as he held the refrigerator door open and looked at what was left of their groceries; which wasn't much.  
  
"Let's go out for dinner. I saw a nice little restaurant down the beach. Why don't we change and walk down there?"  
  
"Sounds like a plan."  
****  
Faith was already dressed and waiting for Bosco when he came out of the bedroom wearing a blue, short-sleeved, button down shirt and his black boxer-briefs. She whistled at him. "Yeah, yeah, funny. Have you seen my khaki shorts?"  
  
"I threw them out."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Bosco you were wearing them when you got hurt. There was blood all over them. They couldn't be saved. Sorry."  
  
"Damn. Now what the hell am I supposed to wear?"  
  
"Well, I kinda like those," she said as she pointed to his underwear.  
  
"You think you're funny, but your not," he grinned as he walked back into the bedroom. A few minutes later he emerged wearing a white button down shirt and a pair of black cargo shorts. He held his arms out to the side and turned in a circle.  
  
"Very nice. Let's go."  
  
They walked down the beach hand in hand on the way to the restaurant. It was a nice, dimly lit restaurant and there was a band playing. All of the tables were around a small wooden dance floor, but people were too busy eating to dance. After each song was over a few of the patrons would clap while others continued their conversations.  
  
"This band is really good," commented Faith. "I wonder how come no one is dancing."  
  
"Uh, maybe because it's a restaurant and they're here for the food."  
  
A short time later Faith and Bosco had finished their meals and sat listening to the band play. They did a lot of 80s and 90s cover songs. Mostly slow songs. Faith looked at Bosco. "Will you dance with me?"  
  
"No way. I'm not going out there to be the only couple on the dance floor. Forget it."  
  
"Come on Bosco please. I haven't been dancing in ages."  
  
He shook his head. "I don't want to."  
  
"You afraid or something?"  
  
"No," he said quickly. "I just don't want to dance."  
  
"Fine," she grabbed her purse and stood up.  
  
"Where you going?"  
  
"To the ladies room is that OK?"  
  
He nodded. When she got back to the table the band had just finished a song. The lead singer spoke into his microphone. "All right ladies and gentlemen this is our last song of the evening."  
  
Bosco looked at Faith. "You still want to dance?"  
  
"No that's OK."  
  
"Come on Faith. Last chance," he stood up and offered her his hand. "May I have this dance?"  
  
Faith smiled and took his hand. He led her out to the empty dance floor. Bosco wrapped his arms around Faith's waist and she put her arms around him. Together they swayed to the music. They moved as one.  
  
Bosco kissed Faith as they danced. She then rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you Faith."  
  
"And I love you Maurice."   
  
They chuckled at how odd it sounded when she said 'Maurice'. They continued to smile as they looked into each other's eyes. Bosco noticed a flash of light, and turned to see a waiter taking a picture. "Was that your camera?"  
  
"Yes. When I went to the restroom I gave him the camera and asked him to take our picture."  
  
"You didn't."  
  
"Oh I did," she smiled as she kissed his lips. 


	14. Chapter 14

Let the Sun Shine Through  
Part 14  
******  
Since Bosco and Faith's vacation is basically over I will once again start combining days in the chapters.  
  
Hope you enjoy!  
  
Dedication: Dem and Angie! Yes, I'm very close to joining the "dark side" the brain washing has been working!  
*****  
JULY 11th...HEADING HOME  
"Bosco. Bosco." Faith shook his shoulders.  
  
"Huh?" he asked groggily as his eyes adjusted to the light. "What?"  
  
She looked down at him. "Is this why you're always late for work? Cause you can't drag your butt out of bed?"  
  
"Hey I'm not *always* late."  
  
"Right, just more often than not."  
  
"And I'll have you know the reason I'm late for work is a little more complicated."  
  
"Oh really? Now I'm curious. Care to explain?"  
  
"Well, for your information I'm late because I have been plagued by nightmares for years. I hardly sleep at night, that is if I sleep at all, and if I do finally fall asleep I'm so tired I sleep through my alarm." Faith frowned, and he read her mind. "Don't sweat it Faith. You didn't know."  
  
She looked at him as he lay there looking up at her. "So, why has it been so hard to get you out of bed these days? You haven't been having those nightmares have you? I thought they stopped."  
  
He nodded. "Yeah," he smiled. "And now I've come to enjoy a peaceful sleep without any demons, so I'm taking full advantage of it."  
  
"OK," she smiled. "But that's enough for today. We gotta hit the road."  
  
"Just a few more minutes," he pleaded.  
  
"Bosco."  
  
"Come on Faith." He grabbed her hand and before she could stop him he pulled her onto the bed with him.  
  
She quickly found herself laying half on top of him. Faith looked into his eyes and saw a sparkle that she had never known while they worked together. It wasn't until now that she noticed just how much life there was in his eyes. She closed her eyes as their lips met. When she opened them he was smiling at her. "What?" she asked with a grin.  
  
"I love waking up in the morning and having you here." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. His hand lingered.  
  
She smiled and kissed him again. "And I love seeing you first thing in the morning. You're so cute when you aren't totally awake." They kissed once more.  
  
"Are you sure we have to go back today?" He asked as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.  
  
"Yeah, unfortunately."  
*****  
Bosco put the last of their belongings in the trunk. Faith came out of the hotel office. "OK. We're all checked out. You ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah I guess." He shook his head and sighed. Then put his hands on her waist and pulled her to him as he leaned against the back of the car. Bosco looked into her eyes as he held onto her. "Things won't change when we get home will they?"  
  
Faith put a hand on each side of his face, and gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean change?"  
  
"You and me. We're still going to be together right?"  
  
"Of course Bosco. Why would that change?"  
  
"I don't know. Forget I said anything." He tried to walk away, but Faith still had his face between her hands.  
  
"No. I won't forget. Talk to me. What are you so worried about?"  
  
"Nothing. Never mind."  
  
"Bosco I can read you like a book. What is it?"  
  
He reached up and took her hands in his. Bosco took a deep breath. "When we get home; when this trip is over; are you still going to want me? Because people are going to tell you that you can do better than Maurice Boscorelli."  
  
Faith squeezed his hands. "Don't sell yourself so short. Maurice Boscorelli is who I want. No one else." She paused. "Now I need to ask you something." He nodded. "When we get home are you still going to want a divorced woman who is the mother of two kids? Because we both know that you could have any woman you wanted."  
  
Bosco leaned forward and kissed her. "Faith," he said softly. "The only woman I'm interested in is you."  
  
Faith smiled as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her forehead on his. "I guess we're both a little insecure."  
  
He chuckled. "Yeah. I'd say so."  
*****  
JULY 12th...ALMOST HOME  
They were half an hour from home, and had spent the last two days in the car getting to know even more about each other. Bosco had thought that he knew almost everything about Faith, but she kept surprising him with things he hadn't known.  
  
As they got closer to the city Bosco looked at her. "Faith."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Where am I taking you? Are you going to your apartment?"  
  
Her eyes got wide. "Oh...I guess I never thought about that. I figure, well, I'm guessing, well, knowing Fred he's probably planning on keeping the apartment."  
  
Bosco laughed. "On his pay?! There's no way he could afford your place."  
  
"Yeah well it's not like I can afford it on my pay either. I sure didn't think this through."  
  
"Well we still have one more day off. You can stay at my place tonight and tomorrow we'll get a hold of Fred, and figure out what to do. OK?"  
  
"You sure you don't mind me staying at your place tonight?"  
  
"Hello! Faith! Correct me if I'm wrong, but we've been staying together for two weeks. I think I can handle it again tonight."  
  
She grinned, and put her hand on his leg. "Yeah OK. Thanks Bosco."  
*****  
Bosco pulled into his parking space and they carried their things up to his apartment. "As much as I didn't want to leave Florida it is nice to be home," he said as he put his bags down on the floor by the door. Faith nodded, but there was a frown on her face. "Hey, hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her.  
  
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I just had the time of my life on vacation with you, and now I get back here and realize that my life isn't the same anymore." Tears started to roll down her cheeks. "I was married when I left, now I'm divorced. My kids lived with me and their father in an apartment and now I don't even know where *I* live. How could I just go away on vacation like that?!" She sobbed. "What kind of mother am I to tell my kids that I'm leaving their father and then up and leave for two weeks?! I left them here to deal with it alone. How could I?!"  
  
Faith continued to sob uncontrollably as Bosco held her. He tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but for every tear he brushed away, two more fell. "Shhhh, Faith. It's OK. You just have to talk to them, explain it to them. It'll be all right Faith."  
  
"I'm scared Bosco," she cried into his shoulder.  
  
"What are you scared of?" he asked softly.  
  
"I'm so afraid that I've ruined my children's lives. I tore their family apart."  
  
"Come on Faith. That's not true. You love those kids more than anything, and I know Fred loves them too. Emily and Charlie still have two parents that love them, it's just going to be a little different."  
  
Faith looked at Bosco. "You told me that when your parents got divorced everything was different. I don't want my kids crying themselves to sleep at night like you did when you were their age."  
  
"This is a different situation Faith. There wasn't much love in my family. My parents didn't try to make it work. With some effort, understanding and lots of love everything will work out fine."  
  
She pulled out of Bosco's embrace and swiped at her eyes. "How can you say everything's going to be fine?! You don't know that!" Faith had gone from sad to angry.  
  
"But I know you Faith. I know you'll make it work." Bosco kept his voice calm and even.  
  
"I'm alone now! I don't know how to make it work!"  
  
He took hold of her hands. "You aren't alone Faith. I'm here. I'll help you." Bosco pulled Faith into a hug and kissed the top of her head. "We'll make this work Faith. We can figure this out together," he paused. "That is, if you want my help," he said softly.  
  
Faith looked up at him with her puffy red eyes and tear stained face. "I don't think I can do this without you Bos."  
*****  
Bosco had fallen asleep sitting on the couch with Faith snuggled up next to him. It had been a long night for the two of them as Faith had continued to ride the emotional roller coaster, and Bosco tried to assure her everything would turn out OK. Exhaustion had overtaken them sometime in the early morning hours.  
  
The ringing of the phone woke Bosco. He carefully moved off the couch so he wouldn't wake Faith. He answered the phone and stepped into the kitchen. "Boscorelli."  
  
"Have you seen Faith?!" asked an irritated Fred.  
  
"No. I just got back from being upstate for the last couple weeks," he lied.  
  
"Well if you talk to her tell her she can keep the apartment I found a new place. And tell her that her mom agreed to let the kids stay out there until custody is decided."  
  
"Fred what's going on?" Bosco asked so he could hear what Fred had to say.  
  
"Oh, I'm surprised you don't know seeing as she tells you everything! That ungrateful bitch divorced me!"  
  
"Watch it asshole! That's my partner you're talking about! Besides, she gave you more chances than you deserved and that's partly my fault! You never deserved someone like Faith!"  
  
"Screw you Boscorelli! What would you know?!"  
  
"I know a loving, caring, compassionate, beautiful woman when I see one!"  
  
"Yeah? Well if you like her so much why don't you marry her?!" Fred hung up on Bosco.  
  
"Who knows, maybe I will someday," Bosco said softly as he hung up the phone. He chuckled. "Well at least I know we would have Fred's blessing," he thought as he walked into the living room. Faith was awake. "Hey sleeping beauty," he said with a smile.  
  
"What did Fred want?" she asked as she pointed to the phone in his hand.  
  
He shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
"Nice try Bosco but I heard you."  
  
"Oh, sorry. I was trying to be quiet."  
  
She chuckled. "Really? Cause if that was you trying to be quiet I'd hate to hear what you sound like when you aren't."  
  
"I couldn't help it. He pissed me off!"  
  
"So what did he say?"  
  
Bosco walked over to the couch and sat next to her. "He said the apartment is yours. He found a new place." He took a deep breath. "And your mom agreed to let the kids stay with her until after the custody hearing." Faith looked at him; tears threatening to fall. He pulled her close. "Don't cry Faith. Everything will work out."  
  
As he embraced her tears formed in his eyes. He hated seeing her like this, and he hated knowing that he could be wrong. Bosco had no idea if things would work out, but he was going to do everything in his power to help her. Faith deserved that. 


	15. Chapter 15

Let the Sun Shine Through  
Part 15  
*****  
As we all know I don't own any of the characters...not even Vincent...even HE is a TW character from like first season...not that we ever saw him though...only heard about him...OK enough of my rambling!  
  
This chapter picks up shortly after the events of the last one.  
*****  
  
Faith and Bosco sat at the kitchen table sipping coffee. They sat in silence. Bosco looked at Faith, but he didn't see his partner, he didn't see the woman he had fallen in love with. Instead in her place sat a sad and scared woman. Bosco knew he needed to do something. He needed to take action. Normally Faith was the one who knew what to do. She always knew how to take care of things, but now she needed him to take charge.  
  
"Faith, what do you want?" he asked softly.  
  
She looked at him with her empty eyes. "What?"  
  
"What do you want? Do you want to keep your apartment? Do you want sole custody of the kids? I need to know what you want so I can help you get it."  
  
"Bosco this isn't going to be that easy."  
  
"Well it's going to be a lot easier if we make a plan or something."  
  
"You don't have to do this Bosco."  
  
"Do what?" he asked confused.  
  
"I've been thinking, and I know you just got hit with a lot of extra baggage in this relationship." She looked down at the table. "So if you want to walk away I'll understand."  
  
"What?! Faith, no, I'm not going anywhere! I love you. Don't you get that?! I love you." His eyes pleaded with her for understanding. "You've stuck by my side through all sorts of shit. Why would I turn you away when you need me?! I don't know what you're thinking, but I'm not like that!" He continued to look her in the eye as he waited for her response.  
  
"You mean it?" she asked quietly.  
  
"Damn straight."  
  
"Thank you," she said as the corner of her mouth turned up into a fraction of a smile.  
  
Bosco nodded. "So, sole custody?"  
  
Faith nodded. "But I don't see how that's going to work with the shift I'm on," her voice sounded defeated.  
  
"Faith relax." He reached across the table and took her hand. "I'm sure if we tell Swersky what's going on he'll put you on a different shift. Nothing is set in stone. You have to think of the possibilities."  
  
"I'm really having trouble with that right now."  
  
He smiled. "That's why I'm here."  
  
She squeezed his hand. "I love you."  
  
"How could you not?" For the first time since they had been home Faith's face lit up. "OK, so first thing is to talk to Swersky about putting you on a different shift."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"This isn't about me right now. We'll think about me later."  
  
Faith grinned and shook her head. Sitting across from her was the man she loved. The man who would do anything for her. If only she had met him years ago, before she had married Fred. "Oh well," she thought. "At least he's here now." She looked at him. "OK, so if I'm on a different shift I'll have a better chance of getting custody. But I can't afford the apartment and I doubt Fred's income would be much help even if he has to pay child support. Hell, we could barely afford it together."  
  
Bosco put his elbow on the table and raked his hand through his hair. "We could uh, we could get a place together. I mean, if you want."  
  
"Oh Bos. Thanks for the offer, but I don't think that's a good idea right now."  
  
"I know. I just wanted to make sure you knew it was an option."  
*****  
"Well, it's almost two. I'm going to go shower and get dressed. Then we can head down to the station and talk to Swersky."  
  
Bosco nodded. The phone rang. "Boscorelli."  
  
"Hey Maurice. How ya doin'? How was the trip?"  
  
"Vincent man it was spectacular. That hotel was unbelievable. Thanks man. I owe you."  
  
"Nah, I think I still owe you for chipping in the dough for that apartment building remodeling job."  
  
"Damn! Why didn't I think of it before?!"  
  
"Why didn't you think of what Maurice?"  
  
"Vincent I need a favor."  
  
"OK."  
  
"You met my partner, Faith, right?'  
  
"Yeah a while back."  
  
"OK here's the deal," Bosco looked toward the bathroom door to make sure Faith wasn't within earshot. "Well, she just got divorced, and well, it's a long story, but she's got two kids and she can't afford her apartment."  
  
"And you were wondering if I could give her the family discount?"  
  
"Yeah. Can you?" Bosco paced nervously.  
  
"I think I can swing it. We have a couple apartments open."  
  
"It can't be a dive Vinny. It's gotta be a place nice enough for your ma to live in. Faith, she's like family."  
  
"Don't sweat it Maurice. Why don't you come by around five and look at the place then if she's interested we can fill out the paperwork." Bosco wrote down the address Vincent gave him.  
  
"Vincent I owe you."  
  
"Hey that's what family is for Maurice. I'll see you later."  
  
Bosco hung up the phone with a smile on his face.  
*****  
It was a little after 3:30 when Faith and Bosco got to the station. Davis and Sullivan were on their way out. "Faith. Bosco. You guys look tan," commented Sully. "By the looks of it vacation did you some good."  
  
"Yeah," nodded Faith with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, but what the hell happened to your face Bosco?" asked Ty.  
  
"Oh," Bosco touched his stitches. "Long story. Short version is I got hit with a beer bottle."  
  
"Where did you go?" asked Sully.  
  
Faith and Bosco looked at each other and smiled. "Florida," Faith replied.  
  
"You guys go together?" questioned Davis.  
  
"Yup," replied a smiling Bosco.  
  
"Awe, got you some honeys on the beach eh Bosco?" Davis winked. "How many notches in your bedpost?" Davis grinned. Sully just shook his head in disgust.  
  
"Well, no notches, but I did hook up with someone."  
  
"What?! The 'Italian stallion' couldn't get her to take a roll in the hay," Davis laughed.  
  
"Davis! Is this ANY of your business?" asked Sully.  
  
"Yeah it's my business. My boy goes on vacation to Florida. I want to hear about it."  
  
"It was great Davis. She's unbelievable."  
  
Sully looked at Faith. "How did you put up with him for two weeks?"  
  
Faith grinned. "He kinda grows on you after awhile."  
  
Sully and Davis looked at each other then looked at the two officers standing in front of them. Faith pulled on her purse strap with her left hand. "You lose your ring?" Sully asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
He pointed. "You aren't wearing your wedding ring. You lose it?"  
  
Faith looked at her hand. "Uh, no." She looked at Bosco who was no help as he stood there grinning like an idiot. "Fred and I got divorced."  
  
Sully frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry Faith."  
  
"Whoa. Back up. Back up," said Davis as he put his hands in the air. "I knew it. I knew it."  
  
"Knew what?" asked an irritated Sully.  
  
Davis looked at Bosco. "You hooked up with Faith didn't you?"  
  
Bosco looked at Faith. "I cannot tell a lie. Faith and I have been seeing each other for almost two weeks now."  
  
"Gross! Gross!" exclaimed Davis. "I mean, no offense. I'm not saying, well it's just...you...and you...together. Ewww."  
  
Faith shook her head. "You have a way with words Davis."  
  
"Come on Ty. Let's go." Sully pulled his partner toward their RMP.  
  
"Man he needs to grow up," said Bosco.  
  
Faith smacked his arm. "Two weeks ago you would have been giving him every last detail. I'm telling you right now, while we're together I don't want to be the topic of your locker room conversations."  
  
He turned to her and put his hands on her hips. "Now what fun is that if I can't-" She lightly punched him in the stomach. "Oomph...OK. OK."  
*****  
Faith knocked on the office door. "Enter," came the voice from inside. Bosco and Faith slowly walked into the room. "Boscorelli. Yokas. Welcome back, but you're about 24 hours early for your shift."  
  
"I needed to talk to you."  
  
Swersky nodded and looked at Bosco. "Oh, I'm just here for moral support."  
  
"What happened to your face?"  
  
Bosco sighed. "I helped break up an attempted rape and got a beer bottle to the head for my troubles."  
  
"You OK?"  
  
"Fine now."  
  
"Good. So, what's on your mind Faith?"  
  
Faith fiddled with her purse. "Well Lieu. I uh, I just got divorced and uh, well I've got two kids ya know and---"  
  
The Lieutenant held up his hand. "Say no more. You want to work a different shift am I right?"  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"Days? Seven to three?" Faith nodded. "We're really going to miss you on our watch, but at least we won't lose you completely. Can you start working days tomorrow?"  
  
"Sure thing Lieu."  
  
"What about you Boscorelli?"  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"You wanna stick with your partner? Work days?"  
  
Bosco's eyes got wide, and he looked at Faith. He hadn't really thought about changing shifts. He loved working the third watch because there was more action. But if he stayed on his shift and Faith went to days they would only see each other in passing or if they happened to have the same days off. But even that couldn't be guaranteed. "Uh, well, yeah I guess. I'd hate to have to break in a new partner."  
  
"Yeah, and I'd hate to have to try and find you one," Lieu grinned. "So you two show up for the day shift tomorrow."  
*****  
Bosco took a right instead of a left. "Bosco where are we going? I thought we were going out to see the kids. You should have taken a left."  
  
"We have one more stop to make first. It shouldn't take too long." Bosco pulled up in front of an apartment building.  
  
"What are we doing here?"  
  
He turned to look at her. "Just follow me." They entered the building and Vincent was waiting for them. "Hey Vincent. You remember Faith. Faith this is my cousin Vincent."  
  
"Hi nice to see you again," said Vincent as he shook her hand.  
  
"Likewise." She looked at Bosco. "What are we doing here?"  
  
"Vincent has a couple apartments open."  
  
Faith pulled Bosco to the side. "Bosco look at this place. I can't afford to live here."  
  
"Would you relax?! Vincent is family. He'll take care of you."  
  
"He's not my family and I don't need a handout."  
  
"Faith can you afford an apartment on your own?" She shook her head. "Come on. Vincent is my cousin. He owns the building. He's doing this because he is my family and he wants to help."  
  
"What all did you tell him?"  
  
"Just that you just got divorced you have two kids and you can't afford your current place on your own. Nothing else I swear. He doesn't even know about us."  
  
"Bosco-"  
  
"Faith don't fight me on this. If you want Emily and Charlie to live with you then you need to think about this. Don't worry about it. He's going to set you up with the Boscorelli family discount. It's not about charity. It's about family. And you're my family."  
  
Faith let out a long breath. "OK Bosco."  
  
"All right Vincent, lead the way."  
  
They rode the elevator up to the fifth floor, which was the top floor, and followed Bosco's cousin down to the end of the hall. "This is the best apartment we have. I really think you'll like it." Vincent turned the key and they followed him inside. "There are four bedrooms, and two bathrooms. A nice size kitchen, living room and dining room. Plus you only have neighbors on one side, and they are a very nice retired couple."  
  
"This place is huge," said Faith as she looked around.  
  
"No shit," said Bosco. "Damn Vincent. Why didn't you hook me up with a place like this instead of the one I'm in?"  
  
"Hey now Maurice your apartment isn't bad for a bachelor like yourself. So what do you think Faith? You want to live here?"  
  
"Oh Vincent this place is great, but I couldn't afford to rent the bathroom let alone the whole apartment."  
  
"Faith if Maurice says you're family. Then there is no problem. You pay what you can pay, and the rest is taken care of."  
  
"You can't be serious. How can you run a business like that?"  
  
"Well," he grinned. "Can you keep a secret?" Faith nodded. "There aren't a whole lot of Boscorelli family discounts given, and we overcharge everyone else for rent, so it makes up the difference."  
  
"Should have known it was going to be something like that when I'm dealing with a Boscorelli."  
  
"Hey don't knock us Faith," said Bosco with a smile. "The Boscorelli's just got you an apartment."  
******  
Bosco pulled into the driveway at Faith's parents house. As soon as Faith stepped out of the car both Emily and Charlie greeted her. After hugs and kisses were exchanged they all went inside. Bosco pulled Faith back a little. "Are you going to tell the kids about us?"  
  
"I don't know Bosco. It's a little early don't you think? Maybe we should wait awhile." He nodded. "Besides first I need to do some explaining about everything else."  
  
As soon as Emily and Charlie had settled down Faith had them come sit down on the couch. "Guys I need to talk with you about what's going on between me and your father." Both kids sat quietly.   
  
"I'll be in the kitchen," Bosco said as he started to walk away.  
  
She grabbed his hand. "No, you can stay." He nodded and took a seat in the chair. "OK, so where do I start?" She sighed. "I want you guys to know how sorry I am about leaving for two weeks. It wasn't because I don't love you. I just needed to get away and have some time to think and relax. You know Em like when you and Charlie spend the entire day together and you just need to get away from him for a while, just to clear your head. That's what I had to do. Things had been so bad between me and your dad that I needed to get away from him. I had to go somewhere to clear my head, and I want you to know that I didn't want to be away from you guys, but I didn't know how I was going to feel. I didn't know if I was going to be sad or mad, and I didn't want you guys to have to see that. I'm sorry for not being here for you. I know this must be tough on you, but I hope you can try to understand."  
  
"I get it mom," said Emily. "You and dad fought a lot. I know that. I'm not mad that you went away. I mean, at least you came back."  
  
"And I like staying with grandma and grandpa," chirped Charlie. "It was fun."  
  
"So did you clear your head?" asked Emily.  
  
"Yes I did. Look I really am sorry that I couldn't take you guys with me. I hope you can forgive me."  
  
"Really mom it's OK. I think I'm a little old for the family vacation thing anyway."  
  
"Oh really? You're only thirteen," Faith chuckled.  
  
"I'm almost fourteen."  
  
"Thirteen going on thirty," Faith smiled. "So have you seen your dad lately?"  
  
"Yeah he took us out to eat the other day," said Charlie.  
  
"You guys have fun?"  
  
"Yeah," they both answered.  
  
"You know that your father and I both love you very much right?" Both the kids nodded. "If you want to talk about anything I'm here for you."  
  
Once again they nodded. "Can we go now?" asked an impatient Emily. "I wanted to watch something on TV."  
  
"Yeah OK. You can go." Emily and Charlie stood up to go into the den where the big TV was located. "Oh, one more thing. I'm going to start working days now so I can spend more time with you."  
  
"Awesome," smiled Charlie.  
  
"That's cool mom," said Emily, and the kids headed into the other room.  
  
"See Faith, I told you they'd understand."  
  
"I don't know Bosco. Everything just seemed too easy."  
*****  
It was getting late and Bosco needed to head back to his place so he could get some sleep for their shift the next day. Bosco and Faith were standing out on the deck behind the house. "Are you sure you don't want to stay with me tonight?"  
  
"Yeah Bos. I'm going to stay here."  
  
"How are you going to get to work?"  
  
"My mom is going to take me in. She has some errands to run anyway."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yes I'm sure! Now go home. Get some sleep and try not to be late tomorrow."  
******  
"Grandma where's mom?"  
  
"She and Bosco are out on the deck honey."  
  
"OK." Emily opened the screen door.  
******  
"OK Faith. Then I'll see you tomorrow." Bosco wrapped his arms around Faith and kissed her lips.   
  
"I HATE YOU!" Emily screamed as she saw Bosco kissing her mother. "I HATE YOU BOSCO!" She ran back into the house.  
  
"Emily!" Faith called after her.  
  
"Oh Gawd Faith. I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't----"  
  
Faith put a finger to his lips. "Don't worry about it. It's OK. She'll get over it."  
  
Bosco swallowed hard. "I don't think so Faith. I really screwed up. I shouldn't have kissed you tonight. Not here. It was too soon for her to find out."  
  
"It's done Bosco. Don't beat yourself up over it."  
  
He shook his head. "Dammit!"  
  
"Hey. It's all right. I'll go talk to her. I'll see you tomorrow OK?" She leaned in to kiss him, but he just walked away.  
  
  
*******  
tbc in another story 


End file.
